126 THE TIM BUNKEK PAPERS. 



they do for their land when they get all they can out of 

 it without putting on any manure. They pay very little 

 attention to their morals, and before they know it, the boy 

 has learned to chew tobacco, smoke, drink, and swear, and 

 perhaps to rob water-melon patches, and hen-roosts. He 

 comes up to manhood a Kier Frink, fond of low company, 

 and ready for any mischief that offers. They do not see 

 their mistake until it is too late to mend it. 



Now, you see, to give boys the right start, you must be 

 gin early with them. If you don t get right notions into 

 their heads before they are twenty-one, I guess you might 

 as well give them up. You can t begin too soon to culti 

 vate their hearts, and to teach them to respect the rights 

 of their Maker and the rights of their fellow-men. Some 

 seem to think it makes no difference what sort of princi 

 ples a young man adopts, or what habits he forms. I 

 have lived long enough to see that there is nothing pays 

 so well in the long run as correct moral habits. These 

 make a young man entirely reliable, and his friends can 

 trust him in any business. Any one of the vices to which 

 so many boys are addicted is a great pecuniary damage. 

 It is just like contracting a heavy debt at the beginning 

 of life, and having to pay interest all through. You may 

 safely put down the use of tobacco as a debt of five 

 thousand dollars, the use of intoxicating drinks as five 

 thousand more, and swearing, lying, and theft, at about 

 the same figures. A young man wants nothing so much, 

 when starting in business, as the confidence of his fellows. 

 This must be based upon his character. 



But when we have got a boy s heart and morals all 

 right, there is something else to be done for him. A man, 

 however upright, will not succeed without industrious 

 habits, and a knowledge of the value of money, which is 

 one of the best incentives to industry. There is only one 

 way in which we can estimate money at its proper value, 

 and that is to earn it. A silver dollar represents a day s 



