The Young Man's Guide

An increasing demand for the Young Man's Guide, evinced by the sale of more than five thousand copies of the work in a few months, have induced the publishers to give a third edition, with some amendments and additions by the author; who has also derived important suggestions from gentlemen of high literary and moral standing, to whom the work had been submitted for examination.

THE PUBLISHERS.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION. Mistakes in regard to the disposition and management of the young. 19-26

CHAPTER I.--IMPORTANCE OF AIMING HIGH IN THE FORMATION OF CHARACTER.

Section I. Importance of having a high standard of action.--The young should determine to rise. We may usually become what we desire to be. An anecdote. Studying the lives of eminent and useful men. 27-30

Section II. Motives to action.--A regard to our own happiness. To family and friends. To society. To country. To the will of God. The love of God, the highest motive. 31-38

Section III. Industry.--No person has a right to live without labor. Determine to labor as long as you live. Mistaken method of teaching industry. Labor in the open air. Manual labor schools. 38-43

Section IV. Economy.--False and true; Examples of the false. Time is money. Sixty minutes shown to be an hour. Economical habits. 1. Do every thing at the time. Anecdote. 2. Every thing should have its place. Examples. 43-47

Section V. Indolence.--The indolent only half human. Characteristics of an indolent man. His epitaph. 47-49

Section VI. Early Rising and rest.--He who would rise early, must retire early. Morning air. Advantages of early rising. 1. Things go better through the day. 2. Morning hours more agreeable. 3. Danger of the second nap. 4. Early risers long-lived. 5. One hour's sleep before midnight worth two after. 6. Saving of time and money. Estimates. Examples of early rising. 49-55

Section VII. Duty to Parents.--Reasons. 1. For the sake of our own reputation. 2. From love to our parents. 3. Better to suffer wrong, than to do wrong. 4. Nothing gained by going away. Franklin an exception to the general rule. No sight more beautiful than a well ordered and happy family. Obedience the great lesson of life. 56-59

Section VIII. Faithfulness.--Our duty to our employers. Common error of the young. Examples. The Mahratta prince. 59-61

Section IX. On Forming Temperate Habits.--Drunkenness and gluttony. Indulgence short of these Indulgences very expensive. Spending time at meals. Water drinkers the best guests. Temperate habits tend to health. Ecclesiasticus. Examples of rational living. Tea, coffee, soups, and all warm drinks injurious. General rules. 62-70

Section X. Suppers.--Customs of our ancestors; and of the Jews. Advantages gained by avoiding suppers. Eating-houses. 70-73

Section XI. Dress.--Its uses. Neither be first nor last in a fashion. Fondness for dress. Women not often misled by dress. 73-75

Section XII. Bashfulness and Modesty.--We may be both bashful and impudent. Bashfulness injurious. Set up for just what we are, and no more. 76-78

Section XIII. Politeness and Good Breeding.--Not to be despised. In what good breeding consists. How acquired. Ten plain rules. 78-82

Section XIV. Personal Habits.--Business of the day planned in the morning. Dressing, shaving, &c. Shaving with cold water. Anecdote. 82-88

Section XV. Bathing and Cleanliness.--Connection of Cleanliness with Moral Purity. Neglect of this subject. 88-89

Section XVI. Little Things.--Not to be disregarded. Zimmerman. The world made up of little things. 89-93

Section XVII. Anger, and the means of restraining it. Avoid the first steps. An error in education. Opinion of Dr. Darwin. The Quaker and the Merchant. Zimmerman's method of overcoming anger. Unreasonableness of returning evil for evil. 93-99

CHAPTER II.--ON THE MANAGEMENT OF BUSINESS.

Section I. Commencing Business.--Avoid debt. Do not begin too early. Facts stated. Why young men do not take warning. Students of Medicine and Divinity. Examples for imitation. 100-108

Section II. Importance of Integrity.--Thieves and robbers respect it. What it is. Many kinds of dishonesty. 1. Concealing the market price. 2. Misrepresenting it. 3. Selling unsound or defective goods, and calling them sound and perfect. Quack medicines. 4. Concealing defects. 5. Lowering the value of things we wish to buy. 6. Use of false weights and measures. Other kinds of dishonesty. 108-115

Section III. Method.--Memorandum book; its uses. Rules for doing much business in little time. 116-117

Section IV. Application to Business.--Every person ought to have one principal object of pursuit, and steadily pursue it. Perseverance of a shopkeeper. All useful employments respectable. Character of a drone. 117-120

Section V. Proper Time and Season of doing Business.--When to deal with the gloomy; the intemperate; those unhappy in domestic life; men involved in public concerns. 120-122

Section VI. Buying upon Trust.--Live within our income. Calculate. Buy nothing but what you need. Estimates and examples to show the folly of credit. Not intended as lessons of stinginess. 122-127

Section VII. We should endeavor to do our business ourselves. Four reasons. Trusting dependants. We can do many little things without hindrance. 127-130

Section VIII. Over Trading.--A species of fraud. Arises from a desire to get rich rapidly. Wickedness of monopolies. 130-131

Section IX. Making contracts beforehand. Always make bargains beforehand. Three reasons. If possible, reduce every thing to writing. 131-132

Section X. How to know with whom to deal.--Two rules. How to detect a knave. All men by nature, avaricious. Avoid those who boast of good bargains. Avoid sanguine promisers. 133-135

Section XI. How to take Men as they are.--How to regard a miser; a passionate man; a slow man; the covetous; those ruled by their wives; the boasting; the mild tempered; the bully. Six sorts of people from whom you are not to expect much aid or sympathy in life: the sordid, the lazy, the busy, the rich, those miserable from poverty, and the silly. 136-140

Section XII. Of desiring the good opinion of others.--Those not far from ruin who don't care.--The other extreme to be avoided. 140-141

Section XIII. Intermeddling with the affairs of others.--Matchmakers. Taking sides in quarrels. Ishmaelites. 142-143

Section XIV. On keeping Secrets.--Who may safely be trusted. Anecdotes. 143-145

Section XV. Fear of Poverty.--Little real poverty in this country. Shame of being thought poor leads to worse evils than poverty itself. Fear of poverty often a cause of suicide. 145-150

Section XVI. Speculation.--The habit early formed. It is a species of gaming. Its sources. 150-152

Section XVII. Lawsuits.--Avoid the law. Litigiousness, a disease. Consider what is gained by it. Examples of loss. Subdue the passions which lead to it. Lawsuits unnecessary. 152-156