But, the but comes in again, there are many heads of families who can afford to give their sons a higher course of study, and yet they neglect to do so. They should not forget that in equipping their children with more substantial knowledge they are placing in their hands the tools and power to win in the struggle of life, which is daily becoming more serious on account of increased and keener competition in all fields of human endeavour specially in the economic field.
Would it not be far more advantageous to take more time in the pursuit of knowledge for service in life, and handicrafts for usefulness, rather than be in a hurry to leave school before even one has mastered the rudiments of a general education, or would one rather be handicapped for life in not having built a solid educational foundation from whence a strong and upright superstructure could be erected?
In Shanghai, the Portuguese are indeed handicapped in not having a school of their own, and as for higher educational centres and universities, Shanghai is still far behind other cities of its size and importance, but worst of all the studies now offered in SHanghai universities are not within the reach of the majority of Portuguese.
This should not be in any way an excuse for the youths not to be well instructed. One can have recourse to the mass of educational books which is being turned out from the presses of the world, and which is easy of access, and by judicial selection of his reading matter a man can be well read and at the same time be self educated. Samuel Smiles in his "Self Help" gives numerous accounts of many famous men without the privilege of college or university training acquiring a respectable degree of knowledge by first realizing that education goes on, throughout the span of life, and later by perseverance and diligence, in particular selected subjects, climbing the greatest height of achievement and fame in various spheres.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.