Year: 1879




Scriptural reason. He cannot sue
ceed in business. He Isl a failure
The stars in their courses have fought
against him. Fail he will and must.
'Tis written in the history Of man
kind, which is the same thing as to
say, it is forcordained from all eter.
nifty, that the man bornin the nor
thern United States in the year 1S47
should fail in business and become a
bankrupt. Tis the law of nature.
Like all other creatures the man
born in 1S47 is an evolved product,
that is, his character is formed by
the powers of growth acting against
his surroundings. The roots of trees
which wind in search of nourish.
ment among rocks, and loose stones,
often present singularly distorted
forms. The plastic root yields to ey-
cry stone which it cannot move and
winds around every insuperable OBJ.
stacle. Just so our mans character.
Grow it will and must but in what
direction depends upon circumstan-
ces. But not only is the exterior
form Of character due to circumstan-
ces but the internal structure as
we'll. Just as every storm that
;btssh siHtpal etareufselsc
OAK, here twiss d branch and
therestrsagt thehing an exposed point
SO all the influences which are
brought to bear upon man pass into
the very fibre and essence of his char
acter. a great force produces great
effect, q small force a small one, but
every force its effect. Now he who
was born in 1S47 was sixteen years
of age in 1868. That is to say, his
character was formed at q period
when all the laws Of wealth were
systematically violated, when pub
lie and private extravaganza ran ri
OF through the land. He was taught
that decent suit of clothes cost 500,
that $500 furnishes only q very
moderate support for single man,
that speculation is the road to
wealth, that one cannot do business
and be honest, that industry is not
necessary. When he was an ignor-
ant child he was taught by the ex-
ample Of all around him TO be proud,
extravagant, boldly .venturcsome, la
zy and dishonest. Thus many dew
lis entered him. With such an edu-
cation as this he is attempting to do
business. These are not the qualifi-
cations of success but of failure
But can he not now learn that these
things will not do? No. Between
1868 and 1878 his character had time
to form. The character plastic as
wax during the teens, had. time to
harden into form by the time the
man was twenty-six years of age
The man is and will ever remain
what the education of those years
made him. 1t is a hard saying. But
if it is true we ought to know it
Nothing can be gained by shutting
our eyes to the laws of nature. He
who is trained for the ten years be,
tween sixteen an twenty-six to be
an adventurer, will never be fit for
plodding industry and close economy
which alone insures success. The
reason why our man cannot profit by
the dictates of common sense and ex-
periehce, is that he has not been in
the habit Of doing business with ref
erence to reason. Men are not gov
erned by reason but by habit and
feeling. He never made the princi,
pies of business a study, never reas.
oned upon his course, but acted up.
on the expediency of the moment,
having in view the general idea of
enjoying the fruits of other mems Ia,
Dor. Principles of conduct do not
have to be reasoned out, they are
fully as strong when they are un-
conscious.


His experience too after he is
twenty-six counts far less than that
before that time, Youthful impress.
ions create character. With most
men the growth in character nearly