Year: 1879

"A poor boy" inquiries what occupation


1t IS best for him to follow, and how can


he best succeed in life2


The choice of an occupation depends


partly upon the individual preference.


and partly upon circumstances. It NAV


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 your


self faithfully and earnestly to whatever


you undertake, and you cannot well


help achieving a moderate success.


Patient application sometimes leads to


great results.


You emphasize the fact of your being


poor boy, but this affords no grounds


of Encouragement. Not only many, but


most of our successful business and pro-


fessional men were trained in the hard


school of penury. Stewart, Vanderbilt
and John Jacob Astor struggled upward
from youth Of poverty. A well known
Member Of Congress assured the writer
that at the age of nineteen hewas fat


bc@tman on the Mississippi river. The
obscure beginnings of Abraham Lincoln
are familiar to all Americans. Yet more
remarkable was 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 if poverty, in
stead of being hindrance, were a posi-
tive help. Rich boys are often spoiled,
and their energies sapped and under
mined, by luxurious habits, the too free
use of money, and the lack of that disci-
pline which comes from indigence.


AS an element of success great stress
must be laid upon incorrIptible integrity,
which of late years is unfortunately too
rarely found. A business man once said
TO the writer:


81 can find plenty of smart young men
to work for me. What I want is an
honest clerk, whom I can implicitly
trust"


Scarcely a 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 correspondent resolve that he
will live on bread and water rather than
appropriate penny that is not his own.
Let him initiate the stern integrity of
John Quincy Adams, who would not
write a private letter upon Government
pdlCly Dub DlONlACu a kIdlAdtC DUN VI
stationery for such uses. A boy or man
who establishes a reputation for strict
honesty will not remain out of employ
ment.


Don't give up all your time to business.
Reserve a part, if only an hour daily,
for reading and mental improvement.
If Abbott Lawrence had been familiar
only with the details of his business he
ho-rr, -noniv-n1 F1,o oV1v1nfr,f
ment of Minister to England, a place
which he filed with credit to himself
and to his country. Some men promi-
for a wide and varied course of reading,
structive companions. Once at dinner
party 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
debt to humanity. Try to live and labor
mankind the happier for your having
lived. A great inventor, a great philan-
thropist, leaves a legacy to his race.
Who can estimate the incalculable debt
of the world to the inventor of printing,
VI L4iO 0tCcbAA CAAe4AAC5 VI NAAC JCACSAdtBA
Who will deny that Washington, Frank
lin and John Howard, helped to make
the world better than they found it ?
How long will the memory of Scott, of
Dickens and of Thackeary live in the !
fund of innocent pleasure which their |
works are destined to afford for genera
tons to comel All cannot attain their |
celebrity or emulate their great achieve |
ments, but no one is so humble that he |
cannot promote in some degree the hap
piness of those around him.


A good mother, when her son was
leaving the home of his childhood and |
going out into the great world, knowing |
that he was ambitious, gave him this
parting injunction:


My son, remember that though it is a |
good thing to be great man, it is a
great thing to be a good man."


No sounder or truer words were ever
spoken. A great man may dazzle but
good man is beacon shining afar, by |
whose benefcent light a multitude arc
enabled to walk in safety. The best
success is often achieved by the hum
Dlest, and an obscure life, well-spent is
Better than a wicked renoWn.