Imatges de pàgina
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own mind, and act with promptitude; be manly, downright, and quick; the vender will then see that you know your own business, and will fix his price at once.

There are some persons who never succeed, from being too indolent to undertake any thing; and others who regularly fail, because the instant they find success in their power, they grow indifferent, and give over the attempt. Indolence is a stream that flows slowly on, but undermines the foundation of every virtue.

Every man ought to aim at eminence, not by pulling others down, but by raising himself; and enjoy the pleasures of his own superiority, whether imaginary or real, without interrupting the felicity of others.

A certain amount of opposition is a great help to man. Kites rise against and not with the wind. Even a head wind is better than none. No man ever worked his passage anywhere in a dead calm. Let no man wax pale, therefore, because of opposition. Opposition is what he wants, and must have, to be good for any thing. Hardship is the native soil of manhood and self-reliance. He that cannot abide the storm without flinching or quailing, strips himself in the sunshine, and lies down by the wayside to be overlooked and forgotten. He who but braces himself to the struggle when the wind blows, gives up when they have done, and falls asleep in the stillness that follows.

Be not too diffident of thyself; those who are always afraid of falling, do nothing but stumble.

Be punctual. Let there be a time for every thing, and every thing done in its time. In all your engagements let an hour be named, and keep it.

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Every man who acquires a fortune by industry, is a treasure to himself and family, and a profit to his country, by adding to the common stock. It becomes a bond which unites him to society.

A company of idle persons can keep each other in countenance to any extent, while there are few who cannot be made ashamed of idleness, by having before them an example of industry.

TO-MORROW.-The day on which idle men work, and fools give up their folly; and sinners repent and believe, and reform their character and life.

A FIRM YET PLIANT CHARACTER.-Men of this species resemble fountains, whose water-columns a sudden gust of wind may drive aslant, or scatter in spray across the lawn; but, the violence past, they play upward as truly and as strong as ever.

Action is really the life, business, and test of the soul; but idleness, as SOUTH says, offers up the soul as a blank to the evil one, for him to write his name upon.

says,

A fool "I can't;' a wise man says, "I'll try." Young man, whatever be your calling in life, however humble or however elevated, be in earnest ! It is not our earnings, but our savings, that make us rich.

Be like a tree; its extreme branches are flexible, even its lesser boughs are not so stiff as that you cannot anywhere bend them; but as for the trunk and the principal branches, do your utmost you cannot break them.

The trials of life are the tests which ascertain how much gold there is in us.

MORAL AGRICULTURE.

Take the Spade of Perseverance,
Dig the Field of Progress wide;
Every bar to true Instruction,

Carry out and cast aside.

Feed the Plant whose Fruit is Wisdom;

Cleanse from crime the common Sod;

So that from the Throne of Heaven
It may bear the glance of God.

COURAGE.

HAVE the courage to tell a man why you will not lend him your money.

Have the courage to wear your old garments till you for new ones.

can pay

Have the courage to pass the bottle without filling your glass.

Have the courage to speak your mind when it is necessary that you should do so; and to hold your tongue when it is better that you should be silent.

Have the courage to discharge a debt while you have the money in your pocket.

Have the courage to provide an entertainment for your friends within your means, not beyond.

Have the courage to own that you are poor, if you

are so.

Have the courage to obey your Maker, at the risk of being ridiculed by man.

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IF you desire to enjoy life, avoid unpunctual people. They impede business and poison pleasure. Make it your own rule to be not only punctual, but a little beforehand. Such a habit secures a composure which is essential to happiness. For want of it, many people live in a constant fever, and put all about them in a fever too.

A merchant ought to acquire and maintain an easiness of manner-a suavity of address-and a gentlemanly deportment; without which, the finest talents and the most valuable mental acquirements are often incapable of realizing the brilliant expectations which they induce their possessors to form.

THE END.

Catalogue

OF

NSTRUCTIVE AND ENTERTAINING BOOKS,

Intended to cultivate the Affections, Sympathies, Tastes, Fancy and Imagination of Children.

Suitable for Gifts,

Every-day Reading, Juvenile, Family, Parish, Social, and School Libraries.

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