There has
been in one of our public schools a lad, who, at the age of fourteen
years, could not recall distinctly the circumstances of his life
previous to the time when he was a newsboy in the city of New York. He
was ignorant of father, mother, kindred, family name, and nation. At an
early age, he travelled through the middle, southern and south-western
states, engaged in selling papers and trash literature; and, for a time,
he was employed by a showman to stand outside the tent and describe and
exaggerate the attractions within. When he was in his fourteenth year,
he accepted the offer of a permanent home; his chief object being, as he
said, to obtain an education. "I have found," said he, "that a man
cannot do much in this country unless he has some learning." This truth,
simple, and resting upon a low view of education, may yet be of infinite
value if accepted by those who, even among us, are advancing to adult
life without the preparation which our common schools are well fitted to
furnish. And the case of this lad may be yet further useful by showing
how compensation is provided for evils and neglects in mental and moral
relations, as well as in the physical and natural world. Though ignorant
of books, he was thoroughly and extensively acquainted with things, and
consequently made rapid progress in the knowledge of signs; for they
were immediately applied, and of course remembered.
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