MY BROTHER'S KEEPER
Letters from James Alexander (1804-1859)
to his younger brother, on the virtues and
vices, the duties and dangers of youth.
Learning Something Every Hour
My dear brother,
You must not suppose, from what I said in my last letter, that the school is
the only place where you can acquire knowledge. I would by no means have you
to play all the time, which you are not employed at your tasks. There are a
great many hours, especially in these long winter evenings, in which you may
be filling your mind with something useful. For this purpose you should
always have some instructive book at hand. Your parents have many such
books, and are always glad to give you the use of them. It makes me sorry to
see that you read so much in mere story-books. Some of these, indeed, are
useful, and they are liked by all young people. But most of them are
foolish, if not injurious. Boys often become so fond of this sort of reading
that they never look into anything but tales, stories and novels. And in
this way they weaken their minds, and lose all the advantage they might gain
from books of instruction.
Now, if you did but think about it—you would find out
that there are works which are highly entertaining, at the same time that
they are profitable. I mean books of history, voyages and travels,
biography, natural history, and philosophy. If you were once to taste the
pleasantness of these, you would soon throw away your story-books, which are
mostly fit for the nursery.
But you cannot be always reading—and it is by no means
necessary. There are many other ways of getting useful knowledge. The
greater part of what you already know, you have learned from hearing your
father and mother talking. If all they have told you should be written down,
it would fill a multitude of volumes. And you remember this much better than
if you had read it in a book. You ought, therefore, to learn something every
day from your parents. They are always willing to teach you; and whenever
you have any difficulty you should get them to explain it. There are a
thousand things which they would be delighted to tell you, and which you
would be profited to learn. Whenever you are sitting with them, try to get
them to instruct you.
You may do the same thing with all your friends. If you
are only modest and respectful, they will not consider you too inquisitive.
All sensible people are gratified when they see that boys are desirous to
learn. Make it a rule to learn something from everybody; for there is
no one, high or low—who has not some knowledge which might do you good. For
instance, you have friends in the school who come from different parts of
the country. You may gain much information from them, by inquiring
concerning the places where they live, and getting them to describe to you
everything that is remarkable in their own neighborhoods. Even the tradesmen
and mechanics can instruct you in many little matters relating to their own
employments. It is a great advantage for a man to know something about every
different trade and mechanical art—and you cannot learn this from books so
well as from going into the workshops, and asking questions of the people
who are at work. When they see that you really wish to be informed, they
will he glad to answer all your inquiries. I would like you to know all the
particulars about every kind of trade and industry.
And then, when you go into the country, it will make your
excursions much more pleasant if you will take pains to learn from farmers
everything about the cultivation of the earth. You must be sure to find out
as much as you can about the different operations of agriculture; sowing,
reaping, and the like; and about the productions of the land, the raising of
cattle and sheep, and the ways of improving the soil. You will find that
many farmers, who have not read as much as yourself, have a great treasure
of knowledge and wisdom. Sometimes you will fall into the company of those
who have traveled in foreign countries. This will give you a fine
opportunity to learn from them all you wish to know about the parts of the
world which they have visited.
And if you travel about in your vacations, you must keep
your eyes open to everything that is remarkable, and learn all about the
places through which you pass. In old times this was the principal way of
acquiring knowledge. Instead of going to colleges and universities, the
ancient Greeks used to travel for years together in Asia and Egypt, and
other lands. This is the method which was pursued by Lycurgus, and
Pythagoras, and Plato, and others of whom your histories tell you. When you
go to a strange place, you must endeavor to find out about whatever is
remarkable, and to make inquiries of all your friends.
Also, there are a great many common things which
we see every day, that are very interesting. Many boys carry watches for
months and years without knowing at all what it is that makes them go.
Charles Harvey had a watch given to him the day he was fifteen years old. He
was much pleased with the present—but could not feel satisfied until he went
to the watchmaker, and got him to explain the inside of it. The watchmaker
took the watch to pieces, and showed him all the works. He showed him the
steel spring wound up in a coil, and let him see how it was constantly
trying to unwind itself and get loose. Then he showed him the barrel to
which the end of the spring is fastened, and how the working of the spring
makes the barrel move round and round. He pointed out the chain which goes
from the barrel to the great coil, and told him how one wheel moved another,
until the hands were made to go around. But you cannot understand this by
writing. If you ask a watchmaker, he will explain all these works to you in
a few minutes.
Some boys are so careless that they make no inquiries,
and never learn anything of value. I knew a boy who used to go to a mill
every few days—but who never had the curiosity to ask how it was that the
water falling on the great wheel could make the mill-stone turn round and
round. Some lads will often own guns without ever finding out how the lock
is formed, or how the trigger moves the other works, or how the gunpowder is
made. I hope it will not be so with you—but that whenever you see any
machine, you will not rest until you know all about it.
When you are next on board a steamboat, get someone to
explain to you how the steam works. Inquire about the boiler, and the
condenser, and the piston, and the valves.
Find out the way in which the pump in the yard raises the
water, and what it is that makes the mercury rise and fall in the
thermometer.
The great thing is to be always inquiring. Ask and you
will learn. Learn something every hour. Remember the little story of
'Eyes and no Eyes', and read 'Travels about Home'. Whenever you take a walk,
you may be learning something. You ought to be able to tell the name of
every kind of tree in the woods, either by the bark and leaves, or by the
shape, and the way they look at a distance. You may easily find out the
names of the principal plants and flowers which grow in the fields. It will
be a shame if you grow up without knowing how to tell one bird from another,
by their shape, their plumage, their song, or their manner of flying. When
you come to look more sharply, you will discover a great many curious
differences in the mosses and the ragged lichens which grow on the fences
and stones, and look like mold.
This is the way to become a philosopher. A philosopher is
a lover of wisdom. The reason why some men become philosophers is that they
are always inquiring and learning something every hour. It was thus that Dr.
Franklin became so celebrated, and discovered the nature of thunder and
lightning, which no one knew before.
I have read also of poor shepherd's boys who have become
great philosophers in the same way.
If you are only determined to be learning something all
the time, there is no doubt that you will be constantly improving. When your
friends see this they will help you, and be glad to instruct you. They will
put you in the way of making experiments for yourself, and will furnish you
with books and instruments. Thus your very amusements will be full of
profit. I am sure that you would find far more entertainment in trying
experiments with a little electrical machine than in playing at ball or
marbles. And at the same time you would be learning an important science.
You might spend an hour or two in a printing office, learning the way in
which books are made, and be much more amused than by running about the
playground.
So you see that even when you are not in school, you may
be constantly improving your mind. You cannot open your eyes anywhere
without beholding something to inquire about; and the more inquiries you
make, the more you will know. This makes one great difference between
people—some are anxious to learn, while others do not care whether they
learn or not. Be awake, my dear brother, and remember that time is short,
and that you must give an account of the way in which you spend every
moment. The greater your knowledge is, the more useful you may be to your
fellow creatures.
Your affectionate brother,
James