Year: 1878




patton it is best for him to fol-


and how he can best succeed


life.


The choice of an occupation


pends partly upon individual pre-


ence, and partly upon circumstan


1t may be that you are debarred
entering upon that business for wi


pou are best adapted. In that c,


make the best choice in your poy


Apply yourself faithfully and


nestly to whatever you underts


and you cannot we'll help achiev


at least moderate success. Patti


application sometimes leads to gr


results. a


You emphasize the fact of y


being poor boy. but this affords


grounds of encouragement.


only many. but most of our succe


full business and professional


we're trained in the hard school


penury. Stewart, Vanderbilt,
John Jacob Astor struggled upw
from youth of poverty. A
known Member Of Congress assn
the writer that at the age of n
teen he was a fatboatman on


Mississippi River The obscure
ginnings OF Abraham Lincoln


familiar to all Americans. Yetm
re emarkable was the rise ofPresidL
Andrew johnson, who did net learn
to read and write till after he was
twenty-One. So numerous are simi-
lar cases that it almost seems as if
poverty, instead ofbeinga hindraace,
were a positive help. Rich boys are
often spoiled, and their energies
sapped and undermined, by luxuri-
Gus habits. the too free use of mon.
ey, and the lack of that discipline
which comes from indulgence.


AS an element of success great
stress must be laid upon incorrupti.
BILE integrity. which of late years is
unfortunately too rarely found. A
business man once said to the wri.
ter: t..


81 can find plenty Of smart young
men to work for me. What I want
is an honest clerk, whom 1 can i'm
plieitly trust"


Scarcely day passes in which
some defalcation is not brought to
light. Widespread misery often
results from the lax principles of
some young man placed in position
of trust. Let our young correspon.
dent resolve that he will live on
bread and water rather than appro-
pirate penny that is not his own.
Let him initiate the stern integrity
of John Quincy Adams, who would
not write private letter upon gov
ernment paper, but provided sep.
arate stock of stationery for such
uses. A boy or man who establish
es reputation for strict honesty
will not long remain out of employ.
ment.


Don't give up all your time to
business. Reserve a part, If only
an hour daily, for reading aud men
tai improvements. If Abbott Law
renee had been familiar only with
the details of his business he would
never have received the appointment
of Misister to England, a place which
he filed with credit to himself and
to his country. Some men promi>
nent in business have found time al.
so for wide and varied course of
reading, which made them agreeable
and instructive companions. Once
at dinner-party an eminent clergy
man made an incorrect historical al
lusion, and was at once set right by
a quiet merchant who sat beside him.
John Halifax" by Miss MuIock,
may be read with advantage by all
boys and young men. for it records
the career of q boy, who was cradIed
in poverty, but by his manly traits,
his honesty and energy, rose to be a
great manufacturer, respected and
beloved by the community In which
he lived.


Last of all, remember that you owe
a debt to humanity. Try to live and
labor so that the world may be the
richer and mankind the happier for
your having lived. A great inyen-
tor, great philanthropist, leaves 3
legacy to his race. Who can esti-
mate the incalculable debt of the
world to the inventor of printing, of
the steam-engine, of the telegraph?
Who wilt deay that Washington,
Franklin, John Howard helped to
make the world better than they
found it? How long will the memo
ry Scott. of Dickens. of Thackeray
live in the fund of innocent pleasure
which their works are destined to
afford for generations to come! All
cannot attain their celebrity or emu
late their great achievements, but
no one is so humble that ne cannot
promote in some degree the happi-
ness of those around him.