The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-07-02
Hints 10 Young Men.

There are throughout the country
thousands of young men who are just
beginning business life. They have got
through their school days and have ar
rived at that period when the depend
ence of the youth merges into the indie
pendence of the man. The next five
years will determine what they are like
ly to be in the mature and ripenod DAYS
in store for them. Fortunate circum-
stances may lift above the plane of their
individual exertions, but the ninety and
nine out of hundred will be what they
make themselves. If they start out de-
termined to win distinction in any branch
of business the chances are in their
favor that they will, sooner or later,
win it. If they start life with the spirit
of indifference they will drift along with
the tide, may secure enough to eat and
drink and to clothe themselves, but old
age will overtake them not far in ad-
vance of the spot where they started.
Therefore, it is all important that the
young man should start right, and when
certain on this point should throw his
whole soul into the business he has
chosen. Success is the result of ener-
gy, an intelligent appreciation of life's
opportunities and business courage.
The young man who has tpCse elements
to rely upon viii seldom faIl TO achieve
what he set out to obtain. If he seek
wealth, it will come to him fame, he
will secure it if power, IL will be given
to him. The degree of his reward will
be in proportion to his deserts as a man.
There may be exceptions TO this, but
wherever found they will be attributa-
BILE to 10 fault of the man, but rather
to those mistortunss which come like
sudden storms, given no warning of
their approach and destroying in an
hour the patient work of lifetime.
Responsibility and honor come from the
man and not the trade he follows. One
business is as honorable as another if it
is legitimate. This should be borne in
mind by all young men who are about
to start out into active business life.
Personal integrity should be the cor
nerstOne of character. Without it, the
most brilliant attainments will fail to
reach success. The world stands in need
of upright men, men who can be relied
upon, whose word is as good as a bond,
who are proof against the c0rrupting
influences which beset the business
man everywhere. No matter how strong
the temptation, young men often make
q mistake in the choice of an occupa
tion. Through false notions of respect
ability they enter upon professions or
trades for which they have no adapta-
bility. They seek to become lawyers,
doctors, preachers, and are voted fail
ures by all who come III contact with
them. They might hive made good
merchants or excellent mechanics, but
they started wrong, and keep wrong all
their lives.
Start right This is all important.
A good blacksmith is a hundred fold
more valuable to community than a
poor doctor, lawyer or preacher. He
will make fortune at his anvil while
these professional moths are starving TO
death.
The young beginner should cling to
honest principles as to the rock of safe
ty. To let go this rock is to drift to
certain destruction. The ship which
breaks from its mOOrings on lee shore
is no more certain of destruction than
the young man who breaks away from
honest principles. Honesty first, in-
dustry and intelligence second, are the
elements which we commend as the
only reliable groundwork for human
success Repu6Iic Magazine.