CHAPTER IIL

THE BASIS OF SUCCESS.

N looking over the directions given by men who have succeeded in amassing property,

we find them many and various. A merchant of Boston, who died possessed of some four millions, says of the aspirant for fortune,-"Let him mind his own business." Another advises,-"Let him be beforehand with his business." One who accumulated a large estate in Philadelphia, a man, too, of unchallenged integrity, gives us a volume of "Maxims of Trade," prominent among which are these,

"1st. Cultivate a habit of self-reliance; keep the helm firmly in your own hand, and trust no other to steer the ship.

"2d. Be punctual; always keep everything ready for action. As the chain is never stronger than its weakest link, so is the bond among merchants; one member who fails to meet his obligations involves all connected with him.

"3d. Attend faithfully to little things. They make the best officers who serve first in the ranks.

"4th. Think closely, and in every way strengthen your mental powers.

"5th. Gain all information that bears on your busi

ness.

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6th. Be generous, just, true, and grateful to your benefactors."

Another, who stood in the first rank of his avocation in a large city-the only one out of twenty-five who were companions in his first mercantile experience that did not finally fail-combined in his character a caution, good judgment, energy, and enterprise, by which he rose, step by step, through the grades of boy, clerk, merchant, and banker. His motto was, "Acquire rightly, and use rightly." He began early to give; and stood always in the noble ranks of the Grinnells, the Gurneys, and the Peabodys,-men who, while they enriched themselves, poured out freely of their wealth, blessed their country, and earned a clear title to the name of the "successful merchant;" and another-an honour to his name and avocation-avers that "the true path to success lies in an undeviating adherence to the purest and noblest principles of action."

This last is the foundation we would lay in the present chapter. We believe that, in the long run, it is the upright alone who prosper. We have in the Bible a perpetual bond between moral excellence and worldly success. Although the Canaanites dwelt for a time in a good land, flowing with milk and honey, yet, because they worshipped not the true God, but sacrificed to strange and unholy deities, the Israelites, men who did

what was right before the Lord, took possession of well-stored houses which they builded not, and retained their wealth, ordinarily, so long as they offered to that High and Holy Being the first-fruits of their land and labour. That same Abraham, who was "father of the faithful," and a pattern of righteousness, was "rich in flocks and herds and all possessions." And Job, who was perfect and upright before God and man, is said to have been, in point of wealth, "the greatest of all the men of the East."

Nay, the Bible represents the Christian virtues as not only consistent with, but the very basis of a true worldly prosperity. "The Lord God is a sun and a shield; no good thing will be withheld from them that walk uprightly." "Godliness," says the great apostle, "is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." In other words, Christian integrity and uprightness, honour and honesty, are the only sure guides to a substantial and permanent success, present and future.

The bent of the young mind, from early childhood, is, in one form or another, to trade, commerce, and the varied pursuits of business. Without losing sight, therefore, of the other multiplied occupations, whether mental or manual, we shall address ourselves in this chapter mainly to that portion of our youth who contemplate what is known as a business life.

To produce a character prophetic of worldly success, heed must be given to its elemental principle, and that is, strict, thorough honesty. If you become a mechanic's apprentice, let it be your first and last de

termination to be faithful and true. When Benjamin Franklin had been bound by indenture to his brother, they had occasion, for certain public reasons, to rescind the contract. But to secure his services to his brother, Franklin drew up, voluntarily, a new contract, to be kept secret to themselves, and yet to bind him as an apprentice. A difference afterwards sprang up between them, and Benjamin took advantage of his public release from his brother, and violated his secret engagement," a dishonourable transaction," he says of it himself," and one of the first errors of my life."

Let the young man be warned by this example; let him shun, as a viper, the thousand little ways in which he can take advantage of his employer, slighting his work, leaving it unfinished where it cannot be detected, or, perhaps, deserting his bench or shop when his employer is out of sight. If a youth be once possessed with the great Christian sentiment, "No man liveth unto himself alone," he will never be guilty of such practices. He will serve his employer, not only as in the sight of man, but of Him who searcheth the heart. He will strive to do good, and not evil, to him and every one else.

Take another sphere, that of trade. When a boy enters a shop, he begins a work whose moral issues thought cannot span. In the first place, he is to learn. there the great art of accumulation-he is to enter on the ascending grade of a business life. To make sure of gain and competency, he must set out right. "Be not slothful in business," says the Bible. Industry, the demand of God, is also the germ of all permanent

success in this world; and therefore, for his own sake, a youth will put his hand resolutely and steadily to the stern tasks of a diligent labour.

For his employer's sake he will cherish an immaculate honesty. We do not refer here to shunning the gross crime of taking money or goods by stealth. That is not the chief temptation in his way. We advert to the thousand little acts of dishonesty which are the leading-strings to all the larger ones. The impression sometimes prevails, that none but a very skilful eye can detect these things. It is not so; the employer, though he should not discover each specific act of dishonesty, does, sooner or later, perceive the general spirit of unfaithfulness in one who serves him with no conscience and no heart. Equally, and as surely, does he observe every token of fidelity and honesty. Be always early at your post, and late to leave it; save in little things. for your employer, just as you would for yourself; make his interest your interest. In this way, you soon gain` his confidence. Step by step, you become indispensable to him; he increases your compensation, makes you an occasional present, promotes you over others -the idle and the unfaithful—and eventually, perhaps, makes you his partner.

And that is not all, you form, in this way, the very best business habits; and whenever and wherever you come to act for yourself, you are sure of success. Fidelity in small things, that is the right arm of all true power and progress-it is the corner-stone of prosperity, as in character, so in business.

One is amazed, as he looks into this subject and