The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1854-08-23
MAKE a CHARACTER FOR YOUR.
SELF. -- t-..-

1t is related of Girard, that when
young bridesmaid, having bought anC
paid for bag of coffee, proceeded towhee
it home himself, the shrewd old mer.
chant Immediately offered to trust hii
new customer to as many more bags a:
the latter might desire The trait ot
character revealed by the young man il
being his own porter, had given the mil
t,ts.a.lare confidence in him at once. His
reputation was made with Girard He
became favored dealer with the enter
prising merchant, throve rapidly, and in
the end amassed fortune.
No more capital will be so much for
young men as character. Nor will al
ways even capital and connexioh COM
bined. In our own experience, we have
known many beginners who have utterly
failed, though backed by ample means.
and assisted by the influence of large
circle of friends. In some cases, indeed,
considerable experience as well as in
dustry and perseverance, have been ad-
ded to these advantages, yet with out
securing success. w c have known such
persons, after failure in their first pur-
suit, to try second, and even third,
yet with no better result, although still
assisted by capital, by friends and even
| by their own activity. The secret was
that they missed, somehow, making a
character for themselves, / i-13 1FS
On the other. hand, it is a common
occurrence to.se young men begin with
out cent, yet rapidly rise to fortune.
They achieve this triumph by establish
ing, at the outset a reputation for being
competent business men. Few are so
fortunate as to do this by a single char
acteristic act, like the purchaser who won
Cirard's good will by wheeling home
the bag; for generally neither veteran
merchants are as shrewd as the famous
millionaire, nor young dealer as ener-
getic as his customer. But consistent
life of sagacity, economy and industry,
invariably establishes the right kind of
a reputation in the end. Confidence
grows up, in influential quarters, towards
the young beginner, Old merchants
shake their heads approyingly, and say,
/" he is of the right stuff and will get
along" Credit comes, as it were un-
sought. Connexion follows. The repu-
tation of the aspirant winds and deep
ems; his transactions begin to be quoted
as authority; trade flows in on him from
every quarter and, few years, he re-
tires with a competence, or remains to
become millionaire. All this is the
result of establishing, at the outset,
character of the right sort.
We may say to every young man,
about to start in life, make character
for yourself as soon as possible. Let it
also bea distinctive one 1t is better to
have a name for excelling all others in
some one thing than to enjoy simply a
notoriety for merely general merit
Are you a machanic ?-outstrip your
fellows III skill Are you II young law
yer ?-become superior in particular
branch. Are you clerk ?-be the best
bookkeeper your employers have. Are
you in a store ?-make yourself acquain-
ted with the various buyers. In short,
become known for an excellence peculiar
to yourself; acquire speciality, as it
is called and succe IS is certain, because
you will have, as it were, monopoly,
and can dictate your own terms.
Money may be lost, without fault of
our own, by some one or another of the
accidents of life Connexions may be
broken up, By death, or failure, or change
of interests. But character remains
through all It belongs to the individ-
ual, and is above the chances of fate.
Thousands, who have lost all else, have
recovered themselves by having a char
actcr to start anew with but no man,
without business character, has even
risen from the ruin caused by the loss of
capital, or the destruction of connexion.
Phil. Ledger.