New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-01-15

most successful man OF business, other things De
ing equal is he whose habitual course OF dealings
is 90 far upright as 10 admit OF occasional sllgn'
deviatious and thus give the color Of integrity 10
acts in themselves doubtful There is such
thing as a losing honesty, which never delloer'
ates and never perleys, which is as pure as the
snow that s bolted by the northern blast twice
Ger; an honesty sometimes crowned with bril-
liant success, but more commonly dwelling WHO
modest fortunes and lowly estate.
Let me also caution you against too exclusive
devotion 10 your profession, upon grounds con-
nected with the growth of the mind, and It's c0nse
auent capacity alike for improvement and ENJOY
ment We are all in danger Of becoming SUB
dued to what We work in, Ike. the dyers hand.
With men engaged in some one absorbing pursuit.
the accidental is always encroaching upon the es-
sential and the part is eating up the whole. In
manual occupations where only one set OF mus
cles is exercised, partial deiormlty ensues, and
those which are unused lose In time theK power
Of action. The mind, too, is in like manner al
fected by partial paralysis and partial distortion
This is q world Of in1exibe compensations. No
thing is ever given away, but everything is bought
and paid for. If by exclusive and absolute sur-
render Of ourselves TO material pursuits, we ma
terialize the mind, we lose that class OF satIstac
tions of which the mind is the region and the
source young man in business, for instance
begins to feel the exhilaratng glow Of success and
deliberately determines TO abandon himself to It's
delirous whrl. He says TO himself, " | viii think
Of nothing but business till | shall have made so
much money, and then | will begin & new life.
will gather round me books and pictures and
friends. l will have knowledge, taste, and cult
vation,-the perfume Of scholarship, and winning
speech, and graceful manners. will see foreign
countries ahd converse with accomplished men.
will drink deep of the fountains Of classic lore.
Philosophy shall guide me history shall instruct,
and poetry shall charm me. Science shall open
to me her world Of wonders. / shall then remem-
Der my present life Of drudgery as one recalls
troubled dream when the morning has dawned.
He keeps his selfreeistered vow. be bends his
thoughts downwards and nails them to the dust.
Every power every affection every taste, except
those which his particular occupation calls into
play, is left to starve Over the gates of his mind
be writes in letters which he who runs may read,
No admttance except on business" In time,
he reaches the goal Of bis hopes bat now insul-
ted Nature begins to claim her revenge That
which was once unnatural is now natural to MIN.
The enforced constraint has become a rigid de-
formity. The spring Of his mind is broken. He
can no longer lift his thoughts from the ground
Books and knowledge and wise discourse and
the amenities of art and the cordial of friendship.
are like words ia a strange tongue. To the hard,
smooth surface of his soul, nothing genial, grace
full, or winning will cling. He cannot even purge
his voice of its fawning Tone or pluck from his
face the mean, moneygetting mask which the
child does not look at without ceaslng to smile
Amid the graces and ornaments of wealth, he is
like blind man in picture gallery. That which
be has done he will continue TO do. He must &C.
cumulate riches which he cannot enjoy, and con-
template the dreary prospect OF growing old with
out anything to make age venerable or attractive
for age without wisdom and without KNOWLEDGE
is the winters cold without the winters fire