Advice to young men and boys: A series of addresses delivered by B. B. Comegys to the pupils of Girard College

In Short

This volume collects fifteen lay addresses delivered in the 1880s to the fatherless boarders of Girard College in Philadelphia. Drawing on historical biographies, civic events, and personal losses, the author outlines a complete practical philosophy for young men entering the industrial workforce. He emphasizes that material success and public trust rest entirely upon personal integrity, absolute truthfulness, and unflagging industry. The collection endures as a vivid, firsthand window into late-nineteenth-century American civic ideals, industrial work ethics, and institutional moral instruction.

The Story

The book unfolds as a progressive course of moral instruction designed to guide orphaned boys from their sheltered institutional life into active American citizenship. It opens with a historical and administrative overview of Girard College, detailing the strictly regimented daily routines, play hours, and secular chapel services mandated by its founder, Stephen Girard. From this institutional grounding, the author moves directly to practical counsel on entering the business world. He instructs the boys on how to secure employment, stay faithful to masters, avoid bad companions, and value manual trades over idle ambition.

To anchor these practical precepts in real human lives, the narrative shifts to biographical portraits of figures who exemplified distinct virtues. The author presents William Welsh as a model of unyielding integrity and public stewardship, and President James A. Garfield as an instance of scholarly self-discipline, political principle, and modest piety. Through these examples, the reader is shown that true strength lies in ruling one's own spirit and standing firm under pressure, whether in corporate boardrooms or national legislative halls.

The argument then broadens into civic and patriotic instruction. The author contrasts the quiet, constitutional transfer of American presidential power with the restless military buildup of European monarchies. He celebrates Philadelphia’s unique architectural and social layout, praising its single-family homes over the overcrowded, morally hazardous tenement flats of New York and Boston. Turning to history, he recounts William Penn’s founding of Pennsylvania, highlighting Penn’s fair treaties with Native Americans and his statutory law requiring every citizen, rich or poor, to learn a useful trade. A dedicated address on the United States Constitution reinforces the principle of legal equality, explaining how American institutions allow any industrious youth to rise without the barrier of hereditary nobility.

In its final phase, the book turns inward toward personal reflection and accountability. Using the metaphor of annual business accounting, the author urges the students to strike a balance sheet of their own moral lives at the close of each year, turning over a new leaf by abandoning hidden vices. The tone grows deeply intimate through a Thanksgiving address that enumerates physical, civic, and institutional blessings, and concludes with a poignant message written by the author's late son shortly before his early death. The volume closes on an urgent call to absolute truthfulness, insisting that no external success or generous reputation can compensate for a dishonest heart.

How It Unfolds

The routine established The opening details the strict daily timetable of Girard College, where fatherless boys follow an exact schedule of early rising, chapel services, classroom instruction, and outdoor play under lay supervision.

Entering the marketplace The author provides direct advice for boys entering business, warning against frequent job changes and urging early arrival, prompt obedience, respect for employers, and pride in honest manual labor.

Models of civic virtue Through eulogies of public figures like William Welsh and President Garfield, the narrative demonstrates how personal integrity, continuous self-application, and devotion to principle create lasting public trust.

The virtue of the city The discourse highlights Philadelphia’s unique domestic character, arguing that its single-family houses foster healthier moral lives than the crowded tenement buildings and multi-family flats of other major cities.

Lessons from the founder Reviewing William Penn's arrival and governance, the addresses emphasize the historic mandate that every citizen must learn a trade, establishing practical skill as the foundation of public order.

Constitutional equality The author outlines the structure of American government, explaining how the absence of hereditary nobility ensures that all citizens remain equal before the law, with every office open to merit.

Striking the moral balance Comparing life to a commercial ledger, the final speeches urge the boys to audit their conduct, reject corrupt literature, practice absolute truthfulness, and walk in moral uprightness as they enter adulthood.

The People

• B. B. Comegys: The author and director of City Trusts who serves as mentor to the boys. He wants to equip fatherless youth with firm moral habits, practical ambition, and religious reverence so they can navigate workplace temptations and become useful citizens.
• Stephen Girard: The deceased philanthropist and founder of Girard College. His legacy and strict will set the boundaries of the boys' education, excluding ordained clergy from the grounds and requiring a practical, secular moral grounding.
• William Welsh: A former merchant and President of the Board of City Trusts used as an example of unbending personal integrity. He demonstrates how private wealth should be held in trust for God and used to serve the broader community.
• James A. Garfield: The late U.S. President presented as an exemplar of simple character, classical scholarship, and political principle, whose devotion to duty brought him to high office and an untimely death.
• William Penn: The Quaker founder of Pennsylvania whose historical legacy illustrates how religious principles, fair dealing with indigenous neighbors, and practical laws shape a peaceful, prosperous commonwealth.

In Its Voice

"One of these special laws was this: 'Every one, rich or poor, was to learn a useful trade or occupation; the poor to live on it: the rich to resort to it if they should become poor.'" The author highlights William Penn's statutory vision to show that practical labor is a universal duty that safeguards every citizen against sudden misfortune.

"Many and many a business man looks with great anxiety to the month of December, and especially to the end of it, to learn whether he shall be able to go on in his business, however humble." This commercial reality is used as an analogy to urge the young audience to inspect their own private lives with the same rigor.

"Reputation is the outside, what we see of each other, while the character is what we are in the heart." In his closing address, the author's deceased son insists that social standing is worthless without genuine inner truthfulness.

What It's Really About

Underneath its practical advice on job hunting and daily habits, the book is a sustained argument for character as the true foundation of democratic society. It contends that political liberty and free economic enterprise cannot endure without self-governing individuals who practice strict truthfulness, sobriety, and diligence. The author opposes the idea that social class or inherited wealth determines a man's worth, arguing instead that a poor boy who masters a trade and guards his integrity occupies a position of dignity equal to any leader. The speeches repeatedly assert that private moral choices—what a young man reads, how he treats his employer, and whether he shuns bad associates—directly shape the stability and righteousness of the wider nation.

Why Read It Today

This book appeals to readers interested in Gilded Age social history, 19th-century American education, and classical ethics of character. Reading it offers an authentic, unvarnished encounter with the moral vocabulary of late-Victorian industrial society. The prose is clean, direct, and entirely free of modern self-help jargon, carrying the earnest cadence of direct public address.

Modern readers must navigate period perspectives that reflect the era's specific social structures, including traditional views on gender roles, institutional discipline, and a strong preference for industrial labor over political activism. The text occasionally reflects regional biases, particularly in its sharp criticisms of New York tenement life compared to Philadelphia's housing. Yet, despite these historical markers, the core of Comegys's message remains strikingly fresh. His warnings against sensational literature, his emphasis on daily habit over grand intentions, and his insistence that personal character outweighs public reputation offer a grounded, thoughtful counterweight to contemporary anxieties about success and public image.