"If you find your task is hard, Try again;

Time will bring you your reward, Try again;

All that other folks can do,

Why, with patience, may not you?
Only keep this rule in view,
Try again."

CHARACTER BETTER THAN CREDIT.

WE often hear young men who have credit means dolefully contrasting their lot with that of rich men's sons. Yet, the longer we live, the more we are convinced that the old merchant was right who said to us when we began to live--"Industry, my lad, is better than ingots of gold, and character more valuable than credit."

We could furnish, if need were, from our own experience, a score of illustrations to prove the truth of his remarks. In all branches of business, in all avocations, character, in the long run, is the best capital. Says Poor Richard-"The sound of your hammer at five in the morning, or nine at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy for six months longer; but if he sees you at a gambling-table, or hears your voice in a tavern when you should be at work, he sends for his money the next day." What is true of the young mechanic, is true also of the young merchant or young lawyer. Old. and sagacious firms will not long continue to give credit for thousands of dollars, when they see the purchaser, if a young man, driving fast horses, or lounging in drinking saloons. Clients will not intrust their cases to advocates, however brilFant, who frequent the card-table, the wine-party, or the rice-course. It is better, in beginning life, to secure a reputation for industry and probity, than to own houses and lands, if with them you have no character. A facility of obtaining credit at the outset is often an injury instead of a benefit. It makes the young beginner too venturesome→→→→ fills him with dreams of too early fortune--tempts him too much to neglect hard work, forethought, caution, and economy. Excessive capital is as frequently a snare to a young man. It has passed almost into a proverb in consequence, that the sons of rich men never make good business men. To succeed in life, we must learn the value of money. But a superfluity of means at the outset is nearly a certain method of rendering us insensible to its value. No man ever grew rich who had not learned and practised the adage--" If you take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves." Knowledge of men, self-discipline, a thorough mastery of

our pursuit, and other qualifications, which all persons of experience look for, are necessary to give the world security that a young man is of the right metal. Capital may be lost, but character never. Credit once gone, the man without character fails. But he who has earned a reputation for capacity, integrity, and economy, even if he loses his capital, retains his credit, and rises triumphant over bankruptcy itself. A man with character can never be ruined. It is the first thing a young man should seek to secure, and it may be had by every one who desires it in earnest. A poor boy, with character, is more fortunate by far than a rich man's son without it.

CHARACTER AND CAPITAL.

Ir is related of Girard that when a young tradesman, having bought and paid for a bag of coffee, proceeded to wheel it home himself, the shrewd old merchant immediately offered to trust his new customer to as many more bags as the latter might desire. The trait of character revealed by the young man in being his own porter, had given the millionnaire confidence in him at once. His reputation was made with Girard. He became a favoured dealer with the enterprising merchant, throve rapidly, and in the end amassed a fortune. No mere capital will do so much for young men as character. Nor will always capital and connection combined. In our own experience, we have known many beginners who have utterly failed, though backed by ample means, and assisted by the influence of a large circle of friends. In some cases, indeed, considerable experience, as well as industry and perseverance, have been added to these advantages, yet without securing success. We have known such persons, after a failure in their first pursuit, to try a second, and even a third, yet with no better result, although still assisted by capital, by friends, and even by their own activity. The secret was that they had missed, somehow, making a character for themselves.

On the other hand, it is a common occurrence to see young men begin without a penny, yet rapidly rise to fortune. They achieve this triumph by establishing, at the outset, a reputation for being competent business men. Few are so fortunate as to do this by a single characteristic act, like the purchaser who won Girard's good-will by wheeling home the bag; for, generally, neither veteran merchants are as shrewd as the famous millionnaire, nor young dealers as energetic as his customer.

But a consistent life of sagacity, economy, and industry, invariably establishes the right kind of reputation in the end. Confidence grows up in influential quarters towards the young beginner. Öld merchants shake their heads approvingly, and say, "He is of the right stuff, and will get along." Credit

comes, as it were, unsought. Connection follows. The reputation of the new aspirant widens and deepens; his transactions begin to be quoted as authority; trade flows in on him from every quarter; and in a few years he retires with a competence, or remains to become a millionnaire. All this is the result of establishing, at the outset, a character of the right sort.

We may say to every young man about to start in life, make a character for yourself as soon as possible. Let it also be a distinctive one. It is better to have a name for excelling all others in some one thing, than to enjoy simply a notoriety for merely general merit. Are you a mechanic ?— outstrip your fellows in skill. Are you a young lawyer?become superior in a particular branch. Are you a clerk ?— be the best book-keeper your employers have. Are you in a warehouse?-make yourself acquainted with the various buyers. In short, become known for an excellence peculiar to yourself; acquire a specialty, as it is called, and success is certain, because you will have, as it were, a monopoly, and can dictate your own terms.

Money may be lost, without fault of your own, by some one or other of the accidents of life. Connections may be broken up by death, by failure, by change of interests, but character remains through all; it belongs to the individual, and is above the chances of fate. Thousands who have lost all else have recovered themselves by having a character to start anew with; but no man, without a business character, has ever risen from the ruin caused by the loss of capital or the destruction of connection.