Year: 1878

ga Poor Boy" inquiries what Oc cu-
patton it is best for him to follow, and
how he can best succeed in life.


The choice of an occupation de-
pends partly upon individual prefer
ence, and partly upon circumstances.
1t may be that you are debarred from
entering upon that business for which
you are best adapted. In that case,
make the best choice in your power.
Apply yourself faithfully and earnest
ly to what you undertake, and you
cannot well help achieving at least a
moderate success. Patient Rpplica-
ton sometimes leads to great results.
You emphasize the fact OF your be-
| ing q poor boy, but this affords no
grounds for encouragement. Not
only many, but most Of our success
fui business and professional men
were trained in the hard school OF
penury. Stewart, Vanderbilt and
John Jacob AstOr struggled upward
from 8 youth OF poverty. A we'll
known Member OF Congress assured
the writer that at the age OF nineteen
he was q flatbOatman on the Missis-
sippi River. The obscure beginnings
of Abraham Lincoln are familiar to
all Americans. Yet more remarkable
WIS the rise OF President Andrew
Johnson, who did not learn to read
and write till after he was twenty
one. So numerous are similar cases
that it almost seems as il poverty, in
stead OF being a hindrsnce, were a
positive help. Rich boys are often
spoiled, and their energies sappsd and
undermined, by luxurious habits, the
too free use OF money, and tho lack or
that discipline which comes from in
digence.


AS an element OF success great stress
must be laid upon incOrruptible in
tegrity, which of late years is unfOr-
tunately too rarely found. A busi-
ness man once said TO the writer:


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


Scarcely a day passes in which
some defaIcatiOn is not brought 10
light. widespread misery often re-
suits from the lax principles OF some
young man placed in a position OF
trust. Let our young correspondent
resolve that he will live on bread and
water rather than appropriate pen
ny that is not his own. Let him i'm
itate the stern integrity Of John Quin-
cy Adams, who would not write q
private letter upon Government pa
per, but provided separate stock OF
stationery for such uses. A boy or
man who establishes 8 reputation for
strict honesty will not long remain
out of employment


Don't give up all your time to busi-
ness. Reserve 8 part, IL only an hour
daily, for reading and mental i'm
proVement. II Abbott Lawrence had
been familiar only with the details Of
his business he would never have re-
ceived the appointment OF Minister
of England, place which he filled
with credit to himself and to his
country. Some men prominent in
business have found time also for
wide and varied course of reading,
which made them agreeable and in
struetiVe companions. Once at
dinner-psrty, an eminent clergyman
made an incorrect historical allusiOn,
and was at once set right by a quiet
merchant who sat beside him.


Last Of all, remember that you owe
q 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 inventor,
q great philsnthrOpist, leaves q leg
acy to his race. Who can estimate
the incaIculable debt Of the world to
the inventor OF printing, Of the steam
! engine, OF the telegraph? ? Who Will
deny that Washington, Franklin,
John Howard helped to make the
world better than they found It?
How long will the memory OF Scott,
OF Dickens, Of Thackeray live in the