Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1856-02-22
Prom tho Chill'. Paper.
THE UPRIGHT CLERK.

country ToOnu, lOr ms STOCK was
composed Of almost every thing one
could want, cotton aud wooden
goods, hardware, wooden ware,
silks, threads, crockery, kegs Of to-
bacco, and great quantities Of rum
and brandy; giving plenty Of EN-
ployment to five clerks.
In Mr. Brazer's store in those
days there was a custom, which IS
generally done away with now
the custom Of drinking at | o'clock.
Every forenoon a drink was mixed
up, made of rum, raisius, sugar, and
nutmeg, with biscuit, and handed
round to the master. clerks, and their
customers; all partook of it, and
relished it, and | DIRE say smacked
their lips aud wanted more. At
last one Of the clerks refused his
glass He had made a resolution
not to take any for a week, he
said. IL looked very odd. His
companions wanted to know why.
The habit is gro,oiDg on me, an
swered Amos for that was his name,
aud | am afraid of it; that's why
The other clerks called him foolish,
aud a coward. They thought that
was no good reason at all, for every
body drank. They laughed at him.
but they did not laugh 1t out of him.
He made his first resolution for a
week, then for a month, aud then
for year, and finally for the five
years of his apprenticeship; aud thus
aioHe, aud for himself he took the
ground Of totdt abstinence when
spIrit-drlnklng was the universal
fashion and during the whole time
he never drank a spoonful, though
he mixed gallons ana gallons for his
master. Amos made the same res
olutlon in regard to tobacco he
never smoked a cigar, or chewed
but one quid, aud that before he
was fifteen. A great many years
afIerward, he wrote to young stu
dent at college
In the first place, take this for
your motto at the beginning of your
journey, that the difference of going
just right aud httte ioroHg, will be
the difference of finding yourself in
good quarters, or IN miserable bog
or slough at the end of it. OF the
whole number educated in The Gro
ton store for years before and after
myself, no one else, to my knowl-
edge, escaped the bog or slough /;
and my escape | trace TO the single
fact of my having put restraint
upon my appetite. After leaving
school and gong into store, not a
month passed before | was Impress
ed with the opinion that restraint
upou appetite was necessary to pre-
vent the slavery | saw destroying
numbers around me. Many aud
many of the farmers, mechanics,
and apprentices of that day have
filled drunkard's graves, and left
destitute families and friends
Let every clerk and apprentice
who reads this, aud hope there will
be many, stop and no'e this point
the difference OF gong just right or
a hhLe 0rong, i'll your setting out
IN life, is the difference between in-
tegrity and dishonesty, success or
disappointment, happiness or ruin.
At tweuty-one, III 1907, Amos
went to Boston with twenty dollars
IN ms pocket. He soon received
an offer of a clerkship m a respec-
table firm. His employers faied,
and he hired a small store in Corn.
hill, and furnished il with goods up.
on the strength of the confidence
with which he had INSPIRED mer-
chants who had become acquainted
with hIm. Integrity, industry and
system, were the foundations upon
which his business life was built.
He pracliced rigid economy, never
allowing himself to spend four
pence upon unnecessary objects un-
I'll he had earned it. During his
first seven years in the city, he
never let a bill stand against him
over the Sabbath If the purchase
OF goods had been made at auction
on Saturday, he always examined
aud settled the bill by note or by
credltung II, so that in case he was
not on duty on Monday, there would
be no trouble for the clerks thus
keeping business before him, instead
of allowing 1t to drive him. At the
close of that seven years, he was
worth 6ty thousand dollars.
On the first coming to the city,
he took lodgings with a widow,
who had just opened boarding
house. Amos asked for one rule To
be made for the boarders, aud that
was, that the boarders in the public
sitting room might keep quiet for
one hour after supper, in order to
give those who wi,hed it, an oppor-
unity for study or reading. 'The
consequence was, SAID he in after