New Hampton History: Still true today…

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Please enjoy this archival material presented by Library Director and School Archivist Jerrica Blackey P’19. This article focuses on a discovered item written by one of our school’s first students.

This item, recently found among former headmaster, Fred Smith’s papers, is one of the oldest handwritten documents the school has in its possession. It is written by one of the school’s first students, Evans Page, who attended New Hampton Academy 1822-1825 (we do not have a roster of the first year’s students in 1821) and was from Tamworth, NH. What he has written still rings true today.

Evans Page's letter was found among a former headmaster's materials and is now part of the New Hampton School archive.

 

Translated:

On the enjoyment of time in youth

Much of the happiness and felicity of old age depends on the character which is formed and the manner in which the season of youth is spent. The season of youth being the pleasantest and the best part of life ought to be spent in accumulating useful knowledge in habituating itself to virtuous and moral principles and in forming a character which will gain the respect and esteem of the learned and wise and in a word preparing for a happy old age (in the season of youth.) “Now is the seed time of life; and according to what you sow you shall reap.” It is then very essentially necessary that we should not let the season of youth pass void of improvement. Our character is now forming for the whole course of our future years and it is in some measure put into our own hands. We ought then to consider well the enjoyment of this important time of life. We ought to consider it as the highest trust, which will ever be committed to us. Our time ought to be so spent in the season of youth, that when we arrive at the years of manhood, we shall be able to occupy our honorable station among the most respectable and useful part of mankind. Every moment of the season of youth ought to be spent in learning something which will influence the happenings of our future years.

New Hampton Academy, Dec. 22, 1824, Evans Page

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