The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1859-09-08
S LECT MISCELLANY.
Habits of Business.

wIsely-when we have become initiated in
its mysteries, and our apprenticeship is
drawing to close-the-great question that
will frequently occur in our after life,
what shall we do? stares us in the face
second time. Shall we attempt business
on our own account, or work a while for
another already established; and how shall
we be able to obtain the best situation p
We solicit advice from our friends, and
they tell us that the world will ask you
two questions, which you had better ask
yourself beforehand. Are you master Of
your business !? and haze you habits Of bus
mess? The former is presumed but what
is meant by habits of business? Habits
Of business include six qualities
try, arrangement, calculation, prudence,
puactualtty, and perseverance,. Are you ia
dustrious ? Are you methodical? Are
calculating? Are you prudent2 Are
you punctual? Are you persevering? If
so, you possess what is known by the fa-
miliar tcrm-Habits of Business. 1t is
not the possession of any one of these
qualities in perfection, nor the occasional
exercise of them by fits or starts, as it is
called, that will constitute man of bust
ness, but it is the possession of them all
in an equal degree, and their continuous
exercise as habits, that give reputation
and constitute ability. The difference in
men and their success may be attributed,
in some measure, to difference in their
business habits, and many a man has made
his fortune with no other capital than their
superior cultivation In fact, large cap
ital and excellent opportunities, without
them, will onl y provoke greater disaster,
and more widespread ruin. Perfection
in most things is unattainable yet men
have attained to greater degree of per-
fection in the cultivation of these quail
ties than in almost anything else at all
events, it is certain that he who 'Eaimeth
at the sun, though he may not hit his
mark, will shoot higher than he that aim
eth at bush"
Industry Is the energetic engagement of
body or mind in some useful employment.
1t is the opposite of the Indians maxim,
which says, "It is better to walk than to
run, and better to stand still than to walk,
and better to sit than to stand, and better
to lie down than to sit" Industry is the
secret of those grand results that fill the
mind with wonder-the folios of the an
clients, the pyramids of the Egyptians,
those stupendous works of internal COM
munication in our own country, that bind
the citizens of many different States in the
bonds of harmony and interest "There
is no art or science" says Clarendon,
''that is too difficult for industry to attain
to it is the gift of tongues, and makes
man understood and valued in all coun-
tries and by all nations; it is the philoso-
hot oil roafalc onH
even stones into gold, and suffers no want
to break into dwellings; it is the North
west passage, that brings the merchants
ships as soon to him as he can desire; in
a word, it conquers all enemies, and makes
fortune itself pay contributions" The
tendency of matter is to rest, and 1t re-
quires an exercise Of force or of will to
overcome the Uis mertio. When thing
should be done, it must be done immedi-
ately, without parleying or delay. a re-
peated exercise of the will, in this way,
will soon form the habit of industry.
Arrangement digests the matter that in
dustry collects. 1t apportions time to du
ties, and keeps an exact register OF Its
transactions it has post for every one,
a place for every tool, a pigeon-hole for
every paper, and a time for every settle
ment. A perfectly methodical man leaves
his books, accounts, &c, in so complete
shape on going to bed, that, if he were to
die during the night, every thing could be
perfectly understood. Jeremiah Evarts is
represented to have been a model of in
dustry and arrangement. A friend says
During years of close observation in the
bosom of his family, l never saw day
pass without his accomplishing more than
he expected; and so regular was he in all
his habits, that [ knew to a moment when
| should find him with his pen, and when
with his toothbrush in his hand; and so
methodical and thorough that though his
papers filled many shelves when closely
tied up, there was not paper among all
his letters, correspondence, editorial mat
ter, and the like, which he could not lay
his hands on in a moment. Inever knew
him search for a paper; it was always In
its place" Some manifest this habit at
an earlier age than others, and apparently
exercise it with less difficulty; but any
one with attention may acquire it.
na. The death of the body no more in
terrupts the life of the soul, than the
q j.. L.