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Original.
"OPENING THE GATE."
I lately met with an account of a youth, under the above title, which
contains a volume of instruction. It is from a southern paper, and while
particularly designed for a latitude where servants abound, it contains
hints which may prove highly useful to lads in communities where
servants are less numerous:
"'I wish that you would send a servant to open the gate for me,' said a
well-grown boy of ten to his mother, as he paused with his satchel upon
his back, before the gate, and surveyed its clasped fastening.
"'Why, John, can't you open the gate for yourself?' said Mrs. Easy. 'A
boy of your age and strength ought certainly to be able to do that.'
"'I _could_ do it, I suppose,' said the child, 'but it's heavy, and I
don't like the _trouble_. The servant can open it for me just as well.
Pray, what is the use of having servants if they are not to wait upon
us?'
"The servant was sent to open the gate. The boy passed out, and went
whistling on his way to school. When he reached his seat in the academy,
he drew from his satchel his arithmetic and began to inspect his sums.
"'I cannot do these,' he whispered to his seat-mate; they are too hard.'
"'But you _can try_,' replied his companion.
"'I know that I can,' said John, 'but it's too much trouble. Pray, what
are teachers for if not to help us out of difficulties? I shall carry my
slate to Prof.
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