A YOUNG MAN AND HIS "WILD OATS."
By Edward Bok
[By Edward Bok, in S. S. Times.] THERE is a popular notion abroad in the world that every man must at some time in his life "sow his wild oats," as it is called, and the usual time is generally understood to be during his young-manhood days. To use a more popular phrase, he must then "have his fling." He must "see the world," the reasoning goes on, in order that he may have "a broader view of life." In other words, to take the veneer off these phrases and put them into perfectly plain English, a young man is expected to soil his character; for that is, after all, what "sowing one's wild oats" really means; it is nothing more nor less than the self-degradation of a young man. He must be false to the teachings of his mother, false to his self-respect, false to himself. No man has ever passed through a period of indiscreet living during his early manhood without regretting the memory of it in after years. Nor has any man, by reason of "sowing his wild oats," known one iota more of "life," except that particular phase of it which, if it had a glitter for him in youth, became a repellant remembrance to him in his more mature years. The reputation that comes of right living and good character is what the man of forty to seventy desires, and nothing but the well-spent years of early life can secure this. There is no such thing as an investigation period in a man's moral living; at one period it is as important to him to be honorable and true to his own conscience as it is at another. The young man who reaches manhood without a knowledge of the dark and vicious side of human nature is far better off than he who has seen it. . . . There is no discounting the fruits which come of a well-spent life. A young man is always known by his true color. Of that he never need fear. An adherence to high principles always shows itself in a young man's life, and the instance has never been known where it failed to count for much. And as a young man progresses in life, and a clearer understanding of the right kind of living comes to him, he will see for himself that the men who hold the true respect of the world are the men whose lives are so pure that they can fearlessly and honestly look every man and woman in the eye.