人之一生。少年時代。最關重要。蓋後日之薰陶。絕不能盡化其少時所感受也。夫少時所感受者。雖若可改易。其性質雖若可變更。然終有深銘於心而永不得去者。丁斯時也。心之所感。而觀念生焉。足以制人畢生之誌趣者。即此少年時之觀念也。譬之樹木然。枝之所向。即他日幹之所傾。微諷之即聽。略導之立從。是又如播戔戔之種。行且取果於收獲之期也。
教士溫省特嘗著文詔童子。其言曰。「若我為童子歟。噫嘻。若我而為童子者。即此一念。已足照我回思。蓋『若』之一字。不翅導經夢境之秘鑰也。於是而我之第一事。我當精自磨厲。知願力之真。為成德之秘。及時黽勉。無荒無怠。我當願吾師以艱劇之責。荷於吾躬。使我知當庀材以造成我之人格。使我知我為人而非木石。蓋我之為我。即在長塗奮進也。」
青年男女。皆應及時養成善讀書之良習。擇書如擇友然。為道無他。擇其善者而已。有某君者詼諧人也。應其
The youthful period of man's life is by far the most important. No subsequent training can entirely obliterate the results of earlyimpressions. They may be greatly modified; the character may bechanged; but some, and indeed many, of the impressions of youth will cling to the mind forever.
It is in this period that the mind forms the ideas which willgovern the will throughout the whole career. Then is the twig bent tothe direction in which the tree will grow. The faintest whisperingsof counsel are eagerly caught, and the slightest directioninstantaneously followed. Then is the seed sown which will bringforth fruit in harvest time.
Bishop Vinceut, writing about boyhood, says, "If I were a boy? Ah, if I only were! The very thought of it sets my imagination afire. That 'if' is a key to dreamland. First I would want a thoroughdiscipline, early begun and never relaxed, on the great truth of willforce as the secret of character. I would want my teacher to put theweight of responsibility upon me; to make me think that I mustfurnish the materials and do the work of building my own character; to make me think that I am not a stick, or a stone, or a lump of putty,but a person. That what I am in the long run, is what I am to makemyself."
Boys and girls should early form a taste for good reading. In thechoice of books, as in the choich of friends, there is but one rule, -choose the best. A witty gentleman, having received an invitationfrom a wealthy but not very refined lady, on arriving was usheredinto her library, where she was seated surrounded by richlyboundbooks. "You see, Mr. X,," she said, "I never need to
