THE AMERICAN BOY 



PUBLISHED IN "ST. NICHOLAS," MAY, 1900 



OF course what we have a right to expect of 

 the American boy is that he shall turn out to 

 be a good American man. Now, the chances are 

 strong that he won't be much of a man unless he 

 is a good deal of a boy. He must not be a coward 

 or a weakling, a bully, a shirk, or a prig. He must 

 work hard and play hard. He must be clean-minded 

 and clean-lived, and able to hold his own under all 

 circumstances and against all comers. It is only on 

 these conditions that he will grow into the kind of 

 American man of whom America can be really 

 proud. 



There are always in life countless tendencies for 

 good and for evil, and each succeeding generation 

 sees some of these tendencies strengthened and some 

 weakened ; nor is it by any means always, alas ! that 

 the tendencies for evil are weakened and those for 

 good strengthened. But during the last few dec 

 ades there certainly have been some notable changes 

 for good in boy life. The great growth in the love 

 of athletic sports, for instance, while fraught with 



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