Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1868-10-23

lrV men SAYS, are OBVIOUS, Wnlie tnOSe OF
fortune are hidden. Hidden, I suppose
they are, from foolish, unpracticed men ;
but. really. they are not very difficult to
discover by man of plain common sense,
Who is not blinded by self-conceit
When seventeen / was promoted from
message-boy to be clerk in the Office of
one Of the leading attorneys in Sillerton.
My salary for three years was $3.50 and
1 lived on $125. I am not, however.
going totake up time with an account of
how I fought with poverty. or of how [
made myself sound lawyer by studying
while others were smoking or sleeping
have known many men who were as di-
ligent as L was, but who have stuck lin
the mud, nevertheless. You will hardly
make your way in business without being
industrious. and without knowing your
business-and these qualifications. so far
as have seen. are ordinarily quite suffi-
Icient to keep business which has been
made for you, but not to make one.
I saw this very early in life yet was
not what is called smart fellow, and
luckily I never thought 1 was. NV fel-
low clerk, Sam, could write business
letter in quarter the time it took me. -
Then, Sans letter was neat, sharp. and
to the point, while mine was hardly re-
spectacle grammar Conceive, then, the
lastonishment of Sam. of myself, and Of
the whole office, when the situation OF
corresponding clerk--the most dignified
and best paid in tie ofice--was given to
lme. I conld not understand it at the
time, but subsequently the mystery was
made plain to me. Two of those above
me had mark against them for immoral
conduct, whilD Dthe temperament of my
friend Sam was not business one. He
had an irresistible tendency, both in speech
and correspondence, to let men see what
he thought of them. My own letters,
can see on looking back, never fell into
this error, and SO never got our employer
into hot water. So long as We gained our
point, and did what was fair ourselves,
where was the use of letting one man, see
that you thought him silly, and another
that you thought him dishonest? | took
|precious good care to see as far. as other
people. but I took f. nnssihle. greater
|care that nobody should see how much |
saw. My cue was always to make man .
If possible, well pleased with himself, and !.
at the same time, to make him feel that
be could not get the better of me.
Then I was always good-humored.
was not going to let a man cut me because
he had done me an injury-nor, on the
other hard, was going to cut him be-
cause saw that he suspected that I had
dope him one. While Istrove. and I be-
leve with success, to be good humored
1and pleasant to every one,il avoided 2ex-
cessive intimacy with any one-having g
observed that this is almost always the
|prelude to quarrel; first comes hot wea-
ther, then thunder storm, and then cold.
never was confidential" !" as it is called,
with any one. Was anybody ever SO
without repenting of it? - go
had a hard fight. too, and was on
the other side of thirty before. / saw my
way to being anything more than clerk.
| saw good many men get step or two
in advance of me. through luck. but 1
never consumed my energy in jealous fret
ting on this account. Nature gave me a
good digestion, and I took, the affairs of
life coolly and with good temper, My
chance would come-and even if it did
not, though l desired fortune, I was fru-
gal and could enjoy life without it. An
uncle of SANS, 1 remember, who had
much in his power, passed him over in a
good appointment. The cause was plain.
The young man to whom he gave it was
the son Of man from whom the uncle
expected something Gould anything
have been m ore, reasonable and natural ?
Yet what did thesifly Sam do He wrote
an angry letter to his uncle, full of bosh
about '"conddet to his own J BROTHERS. son
I--the brother who had helped him 50 gen
erously when he was, poor" etc. Now,
how can men expect the world to reward
them if they won't adapt themselves to it?
Do they think thatrit is going out of its
ldaiy path to meet their notions of Justice
and generosity? No good it was plain
to me- could eyer come, Of being out of
humor with any one, and I hardly ever
| iSlS|ta0 luCiiudlOu IL d udu tFl0U GO
cheat me. Il didn't allow him, but felt
no anger With him. L Men pursued their
own interests, | pursued mine. I endea-
vored by good ,humor, knowledge Of bust
ness, and attention, and BY scrupulous
conformity !. to, the ,usages Of society, to
merit the reward which society has to
give: and by patience got it. = ~
I soon saw that, Of all things to be a.
yoided by those who have their position to
make, is the affection of conventional non
conformity. Who but an ass. Sam used
to say. would mind your wearing cap
instead ofa hat. if You find cap more
comfortable? and then Sam would glance
with contempt at my well-brushed beaver,
aud at my neat black kid gloves. which I
always wore when I had got as far up in
the world as to justify the expense. But,
ha. ha! Sam. my boy, | used to think.
let those laugh who win. I never trou-
bled my head much with what the world
ought to think; was not smart enough