Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1860-05-25
DELAWARE, OHIO, MAY IS, 1860.
THE SECRET OF SUCCESS.


Whatever is worth doing a. ell, is worth
doing well " Disregard OF this wise old pro-
verb is the cause of much dissatisfactic. and
embarrassment, not individual merely, but gen
era IF there be sentiment common to a me-
ricans, of all classes, It is that of ambition
The opportunity of advancement which our in
stitutious present, leads many persons TO ope-
rate more for the future than fer the present.
We do not mean that they secure themselves
against prospective energies by safe and solid
preparation but that while their thoughts are
occupied with castles in the air, their present
and immediate avocations are not sufficiently
and thoroughly cared for. The rosy hues
which the future wears makes the things di-
rectly present tame and yalueiess in eompari-
SON and in dreaming about tomorrow, to-day
/ is forgotten.
+ Let US suppose the case of a young man,
clerk, apprentice or student. Either position
requires of him attention to details. and the ac-
quisition Of rudimeuts. { is avocation seems
trifling, nay, almost menial, compared with the
things in which he sees the seniors in the es-
tabishment engaged, and false idea OF pride
may lead him TO regard his own province with
contempt. Instead ofapplying himself to work
! in the spirit of the proverb above cited he is
continually chaing with impatienee for the
time when he shall be released from the ''rudi-
ments," as Timothy Oldmixon, in Jacob Faith
ful, despised the postal and mortar, in which
lay the first principles of pharmacy. He Sights
his daily duties, and wastes time in shuffling
them of, and in petty altercatons. fesistanee
ct directions, in spirit, if not literally and in
stead of becoming generally useful, grows gem
orally troublesome Hence we so often see
clerks or apprentices who. in old times, would
have stepped Of course, into employment or
partnership in the houses where their minority
was spent, leaving these at the end of that
term. They do not quarrel with, and may
even give reference to their old EMPLOYERS
And these employers cheerfuIly endorse their
capacity and honesty, and furnish them certif-
Gates of the very qualities which one would sup
pose would make the relation permanent. Yet
neither principal nor clerk wishes to continue
the eonnexion. Each admits the good quail
ties of the other; bat neither regrets the sepa-
ration. Somehow" the phrase is, I'VE can't
get along together" This somehow" is SIM
ply the feeling of insubordnation to which
Young America is prone. 1t has prevented
him, while he was engaged in tie less import
ant, but still necessary. duties Of the business,
from remembering that Whatever is worth
doing at all, is worth doing we'll"
Thirty years ago, a lad entered large busi- !
;1ess house. After the first Introduction to his
employer he had not word from him, for
weeks, tho he felt perfect at ease, and deeren-
TALLY acquainted One morning, as the lad |
was sweeping the warcroom, the principal pass
1Dcr caiJ +L,,
but the proverb has been twice repeated al |
ready. He did save the twine, md is now en-
ploying the compotnd interest off in conduct |
ing the large operations of the house, into |
which ali the personal property he carried was
a second suit for Sundays, and a half dozen |
shirts, made by his mother and sisters The I
capital with which he entered the firm was
made up of the business habits which his enl-
poyer noted and caffied to his credit for seven
years. We may observe. as an indication of |
the change of manners, that the youngest boy
in the present house does not sweep out" or /
fill in spare moments with the little occupations /
which boys used to do. A partner attends to
all that, and a porter would open and lock the !
store and carry home the keys, only that the
boy who saved the twine,' being now grown
into something of an old fogy, will not submit
to all the msdern inovations.
This brief sketch-7ltfqt:s 771fa ;,dts-wili |
answer for other cases, and show what we mean.
The feeling seems 10 be universal. Even the
rcd-fsted. broad sl0udercd woman in your
kitchen knocks along through her work without
care to do well or please. "Bother p she SAYS
"ain't there other plaishes sure And won't [
have house Of my own when I say Just ong
word TO Pats" SO she dcspises tie opportu-
nifty to acquire friends, and learn what might
avail her in her own house wastes her wages
in cheap inery, and enters upon matrimoHy, is
too many enterprising young men do upon
business with no capital, and no other expec-
tation than the vain hope that she is to escape
labor by the very course which will double her
toll and care. To be Cesar or nobody is
too prevalent feeling, whether people are aware
of it themselves or not and thousands remain
nobodies to the end of the chapter, who might
easily have climbed The ladder, could they only
have been satisfied to take one step at time.
They would fly instead, and come tumbIing
down, dragging better people with them.
Exceptions are the men who take care of
each days work as it comes and do it well;
who look ahead but still secure good footing,
"Hiie th0y arc casting theH eyes anu tHoaShts
forward. They can always afford to be disap-
pointed, having something positive to rest upon,
though the probable and prospective result
may be otherwise than they had wished. En-
terprise is essential to marked success but en-
terprise requires firm basis. And habits of
patent industry and thoughtful providence are
the best business recommendations with which
any man can enter life. always provided that
he must not let these essentials degenerate into
timdity, parsimony, or over-caution, which de-
feats itself