AIDS AND HINDRANCES TO SUCCESS IN MERCANTILE PURSUITS. As in no department of life is success more earnestly desired, or more perseveringly sought, than in mercantile pursuits, it will not be out of place, in a work like the present, to exhibit all the aids and hindrances to a consummation so devoutly wished by the thousands that crowd the marts and thoroughfares of commercial life. With this view, we quote some sensible suggestions from that very excellent work, Companions of my Solitude, which the reader is earnestly requested to "mark, learn, and inwardly digest:" "One of the great aids or hindrances to success in any thing, lies in the temperament of a man. I do not know yours; but I venture to point out to you what is the best temperament, namely, a combination of the desponding and the resolute; or, as I had better express it, of the apprehensive and the resolute. Such is the temperament of great commanders. Secretly, they rely upon nothing and upon nobody. There is such a powerful element of failure in all human affairs, that a shrewd man is always saying to himself, 'What shall I do, if that which I count upon does not come out as I expect?' This foresight dwarfs and crushes all but men of great resolution. "Then, be not over choice in looking out for what may exactly suit you; but rather be ready to adopt any opportunities that occur. Fortune does not stoop often to take any one up. Favourable opportunities will not happen precisely in the way that you have imagined. Nothing does. Do not be discouraged, therefore, by a present detriment in any course which may lead to something good. Time is so precious here. 66 Get, if you can, into one or other of the main grooves of human affairs. It is all the difference of going by railway, and walking over a ploughed field, whether you adopt common sources, or set up one for yourself. You will see, if your times are any thing like ours, most inferior persons highly placed in the army, in the church, in office, at the bar. They have somehow got upon the line, and have moved on well, with very little original motive power of their own. Do not let this make you talk as if merit were utterly neglected in these or any professions: only that getting well into the groove will frequently do instead of any great excellence. "Whatever happens, do not be dissatisfied with your worldly fortunes, lest that speech be justly made to you, which was once made to a repining person much given to talk of how great she and hers had been-'Yes, madam,' was the crushing reply, we all find our level at last.' 6 Eternally that fable is true, of a choice being given to men on their entrance into life. Two majestic women stand before you; one in rich vesture, superb with what seems like a mural crown on her head, and plenty in her hand, and something of triumph, I will not say of boldness, in her eye, and she, the queen of this world, can give you many things. The other is beautiful, but not alluring, nor rich, nor powerful, and there are traces of care, and shame, and sorrow, in her face; and (marvellous to say) her look is downcast and yet noble. She can give you nothing, but she can make you somebody. If y f you cannot bear to part from her sweet, sublime countenance, which hardly veils with sorrow its infinity, follow her-follow her, I say, if you are really minded so to do; but do not, while you are on this track, look back with ill-concealed envy on the glittering things which fall in the path of those who prefer to follow the rich dame, and to pick up the riches and honours which fall from her cornucopia. "This is, in substance, what a true artist said to me only the other day, impatient, as he told me, of the complaints of those who would pursue art, and yet would have fortune." ENERGETIC MEN. WE love upright, energetic men. Pull them this way, and then that way, and the other, and they only bend, but never break. Trip them down, and in a trice they are on their feet. Bury them in the mud, and in an hour they will be out and bright. They are not ever yawning away existence, or walking about the world as if they had come into it with only half their soul; you cannot keep them down; you cannot destroy them. But for these the world would soon degenerate. They are the salt of the earth. Who but they start any noble project? They build our cities and rear our manufactories; they whiten the ocean with their sails, and they blacken the heavens with the smoke of their steam-vessels and furnace fires; they draw treasures from the mine; they plough the earth. Blessings on them! Look to them, young men, and take courage; imitate their example; catch the spirit of their energy and enterprise, and you will deserve, and no doubt command, success. THE BEGINNINGS OF CHARACTER. "The wild, the reckless, and the indiscreet- Ir not unfrequently happens that young men damage themselves for life, or at least for many years, by what to them appear as trifling or unimportant errors. They violate the truth, form reckless associations, and neglect positive engagements. Thus, at the very beginning, they impair confidence, excite suspicion, and create distrust. Character is a jewel of priceless value, and yet it is easily impaired or tarnished. The young, generally speaking, do not appreciate its importance, because they lack experience, and know but little of the world and its severity. An individual, for example, who is in the habit of repeating all sorts of wild and improbable stories-who boasts, exults, and magnifies—is at first looked upon with surprise and caution by the intelligent and discerning, and then, detected in some monstrous fabrication, he is distrusted and avoided. Thus, in an effort appear what he is not, and to occupy a position to which he is not entitled, he destroys his character, and loses friends who otherwise would prove useful to him. to The young and indiscreet do not appreciate the realities of life, but permit fancy and folly to mislead them. They do not remember that character is, to a certain extent, like an edifice that is intended, not for a day or an hour, but for years, and hence its foundation should be of the best material. The advanced in life are, perhaps, too severe and too critical. They do not make sufficient allowance for the indiscretions and the impulses of youth. Hence they are often disposed to consider as vices what are in fact merely foibles-foibles, too, which might readily be modified and amended, if not wholly cured. When, however, the habit of exaggeration and falsehood becomes so fixed that it forms a feature of character; when engagements are made, pecuniary or otherwise, without any intention of fulfilling them-the reputation, soon becomes damaged to so serious an extent that it can never be redeemed or established. Not a few individuals among the young indulge in the error, that by extravagance of speech, recklessness of sentiment, and insolence of manners, they make themselves important, and excite envy and astonishment. The mistake is a fearful one. The only feelings produced among the sensible and observing, are those of pity and contempt. If, in brief, a statement cannot be relied upon because of the known habit of the person who makes it to falsify and exaggerate thereafter, his career in life and society will be disreputable and downward, and at the most rapid rate. The beginnings of character cannot be too carefully attended to. Temptations beset the young on all sides. In the first place, they have to resist their own evii passions and weaknesses as well as their inexperience; and, in the second, the evil associations with which society abounds, and the many allurements which pleasure and profligacy hold out. This is especially the case in great cities. The chief peril may be said to exist within the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. It is at that period that the character and the reputation are more fully developed than at any other. The habits then become fixed, the tone of the mind settled, the disposition regulated. But if a false step be taken, and a false system be adopted, it will be difficult, nay, almost impossible, to recover it in after life. Only a short time since a young man paid a visit to a neighbouring city, as well for relaxation as for pleasure. Before he left the place of his abode, his standing was in every way creditable. He had grown up under the eyes of watchful parents, had received a good education, possessed a fine mind, and was addicted to no vice. It so happened that, on the way, he formed an acquaintance with a dashing man of the world as he described himself, who, in fact, was nothing more than a polished sharper and gambler. The youth was led on from step to step until his funds were exhausted, and he was compelled to write home to his parents for a sufficient sum to pay his hotel bill and passage back. Meantime he had been seen in one of the streets of the city par tially intoxicated. Fortunately he was recalled to a sense of propriety in time, but not before his character had received a shock, from the effects of which it took months of good conduct to recover. Naturally kind of heart and correct of deportment, he intended nothing of the kind, but was led on gradually by an evil associate! How many are ruined in a C |