Advice to a Young Man upon First Going to Oxford | Page 7

of all that we can do, the far greater part of us must actually work
at something; for, unless we can get at some of the taxes, we fall under
the sentence of Holy Writ, 'He who will not work shall not eat.' Yet, so
strong is the propensity to be thought '_gentlemen_'; so general is this
desire amongst the youth of this formerly laborious and unassuming
nation; a nation famed for its pursuit of wealth through the channels of
patience, punctuality, and integrity; a nation famed for its love of solid
acquisitions and qualities, and its hatred of everything showy and false:
so general is this really fraudulent desire amongst the youth of this now
'_speculating_' nation, that thousands upon thousands of them are, at
this moment, in a state of half starvation, not so much because they are
too lazy to earn their bread, as because they are too proud! And what
are the _consequences_? Such a youth remains or becomes a burden to
his parents, of whom he ought to be the comfort, if not the support.
Always aspiring to something higher than he can reach, his life is a life
of disappointment and of shame. If marriage befal him, it is a real
affliction, involving others as well as himself. His lot is a thousand
times worse than that of the common labouring pauper. Nineteen times
out of twenty a premature death awaits him: and, alas! how numerous
are the cases in which that death is most miserable, not to say
ignominious! Stupid pride is one of the symptoms of madness. Of the
two madmen mentioned in Don Quixote, one thought himself
NEPTUNE, and the other JUPITER. Shakspeare agrees with
CERVANTES; for, Mad Tom, in King Lear, being asked who he is,

answers, 'I am a tailor run mad with pride.' How many have we heard
of, who claimed relationship with noblemen and _kings_; while of not a
few each has thought himself the Son of God! To the public journals,
and to the observations of every one, nay, to the '_county-lunatic
asylums_' (things never heard of in England till now), I appeal for the
fact of the vast and hideous _increase of madness in this country_; and,
within these very few years, how many scores of young men, who, if
their minds had been unperverted by the gambling principles of the day,
had a probably long and happy life before them; who had talent,
personal endowments, love of parents, love of friends, admiration of
large circles; who had, in short, everything to make life desirable, and
who, from mortified pride, founded on false pretensions, have put an
end to their own existence!
24. As to DRUNKENNESS and GLUTTONY, generally so called,
these are vices so nasty and beastly that I deem any one capable of
indulging in them to be wholly unworthy of my advice; and, if any
youth unhappily initiated in these odious and debasing vices should
happen to read what I am now writing, I refer him to the command of
God, conveyed to the Israelites by Moses, in Deuteronomy, chap. xxi.
The father and mother are to take the bad son 'and bring him to the
elders of the city; and they shall say to the elders, This our son will not
obey our voice: he is a glutton and a drunkard. And all the men of the
city shall stone him with stones, that he die.' I refer downright beastly
gluttons and drunkards to this; but indulgence short, far short, of this
gross and really nasty drunkenness and gluttony is to be deprecated,
and that, too, with the more earnestness because it is too often looked
upon as being no crime at all, and as having nothing blameable in it;
nay, there are many persons who pride themselves on their refined taste
in matters connected with eating and drinking: so far from being
ashamed of employing their thoughts on the subject, it is their boast
that they do it. St. Gregory, one of the Christian fathers, says: 'It is not
the quantity or the quality of the meat, or drink, but the love of it that is
condemned;' that is to say, the indulgence beyond the absolute demands
of nature; the hankering after it; the neglect of some duty or other for
the sake of the enjoyments of the table.
25. This love of what are called 'good eating and drinking,' if very
unamiable in grown-up persons, is perfectly hateful in _a youth_; and,

if he indulge in the propensity, he is already half ruined. To warn you
against acts of fraud, robbery, and violence, is not my province; that is
the business of those who make and administer the law. I am not
talking to you against acts which the jailor and