A perfect tree, dog, horse must be trained.—If you want a perfect tree, one that will be straight and shapely, one that will afford perfect shade or bear large, luscious fruit, you will have to give it proper care and training while it is young. If you want to have a perfect dog, one that will be large and handsome, one that will do what you want him to do, you must give him good care and training while he is young. If you would have a perfect horse, one with elastic bearing and beautiful form, one that will be gentle, go the gaits and travel fast, you must feed, groom and train him while he is young.
Boys need training.—If you would become a perfect man, you must be wisely trained and taught. A large part of this you can and must do for yourself. You must get a true idea of what it takes to make a perfect man. You must desire and purpose daily to live that life that will help you to reach your ideal. You must be willing to be trained and taught by those who are older and wiser than yourself.
Boys want to be men.—All boys really want to be men. They are great imitators. They look at men and decide what man they would rather be like. What a pity that all men are not what they appear to be to the inexperienced boy. So many appear to the boy to be real men, when they are not. Boys try to follow their examples and fail. It is so easy for a boy to make a mistake in what is required of him to become a perfect man.
How one boy tried to be a man.—I am quite intimately and personally acquainted with a man, who, when a boy, lived on a farm near a small town. Like all boys he longed to be a man. Some of his ideas were good and some were false. When he was about eight years old, he decided that if he could only ride a big bay horse and take a sack of corn to mill, then he would be a man. It was a happy day when he was allowed to do this. Having carefully balanced a sack of corn on the horse’s back, his father placed him on the horse behind the sack and started him to the mill.
That was the happiest day of his life. As he rode along the street of the village, all the boys and girls, men and women, seemed to be out on purpose to look at him. He could almost hear them saying, “Yonder goes —— to mill this morning. See what a big man he is.” That boy never felt more like a man in his life than he did that morning. What do you suppose happened as he went back home? It was the saddest experience that boy ever had up to that time. His sack fell off. Then he cried like a boy. He felt like a boy. He acted like a boy. He knew that he was only a little boy. For several weeks he was willing to be only a little boy.
Use of profanity.—It is perfectly natural for a boy to long to be a man. So, it was not long before that boy again wanted to be a man. This time, a boy, some three years older than he, was visiting his home. His friend was some three inches taller, twenty pounds heavier and a few grades higher in school than he. As these boys rambled over the fields, climbed trees, and played together, my little friend had to listen to a constant stream of oaths, pouring from the lips of his visitor. He had been taught that swearing was a very great sin. Had he heard a little dirty street waif, or an old bloated, swaggering drunkard swearing, it would have been disgusting. But this time, swearing did not sound so badly. His friend wore fine clothes, his family had wealth and culture and this seemed to change the nature of swearing in this case. Before that day was over our little friend had decided that the only difference between him and his friend was, that his visitor could swear and he could not. He felt, that, if he could only swear, instantly he would grow six inches taller, twenty pounds heavier and a great deal smarter. He finally decided to try it. While they were walking by the back porch, he made the effort of his life and out came a big ugly oath. His heart hurt him. His conscience condemned him. He was sure that God heard him. He had dishonored his father and mother. He had insulted God. He wondered if his mother was not near. Glancing quickly over his shoulder, he saw his mother on the porch, and the expression on her face showed that she was much grieved. When the visitor had returned home and our little friend had danced at the end of a peach tree switch for some moments, he decided that swearing would not make a man. This was his first, last and only oath. He has never ceased to thank and love his mother for her faithful training.