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I.

First Words.

"O gentlemen, the time of life is short;
To spend that shortness basely were too long,
If life did ride upon a dial's point,

Still ending at the arrival of an hour."

SHAKESPEARE.

IN the threshold of life it is well to pause and consider the question-What is life? what does it mean? whither does it tend? It has a purpose, and is not an accident. It can be made high and noble, although its condition may be low and humble. Its record, however trivial and unimportant, can never be unwritten. It is the only time given for progress and development; and he who makes the most of life is he who most advances and develops himself. Time is the most precious heritage owned by human beings. Too many take no thought of to-day nor thought of to-morrow: days come and go without their opportunities being used or embraced. no aim, no resolved and determined plan. Talents and abilities may be possessed, but their owners fail in their use, because they have no mark, no purpose, no object in life.

They have

Very early in life the thought occurs to the most unthinking, that in order to live it is needful to work, to engage in a profession, or undertake some business. And when this is done it will speedily be seen that success in the attainment of wealth secures plaudits and praises, transforming contempt into servility, evil prophesyings into honeyed congratulations, and fierce opposition into officious assistance. Then it is too frequently the case that wealth is pursued for its own sake; not as a means of living, but as the means of securing the shouts and praises of the crowd, which elevates the Midas, the man of gold, solely because he owns gold. But however much the man may be condemned who makes wealth a passion, the only purpose and object of life, its reasonable pursuit is a necessity which cannot be avoided. Rightly pursued and used, it tends to the expansion and development of every faculty. It is the source from whence is derived the means of living, the sufficiency which secures a reasonable and desirable independency, and the absence of that anxiety in relation to children and dependants which so frequently mars and vexes the lives of meritorious and useful men. The history of successful men, men who have acquired wealth and position, dissipates the unhealthy notion that success in trade is the result of chance, and not of work, of industrious habits, and adherence to the rules of probity, honour, and honesty.

It will be found by experience that individual improvement is the best means, if not the only means, to

secure trade or commercial success; and that without intellectual development and individual advancement there is not, and cannot be, any real success. Life in morals obeys certain laws as infallibly as life in matter. If these laws are neglected or despised, success in the true sense cannot be attained; if they are regarded and made the rule of life, success will as certainly follow as day follows night. The rules, the laws of prosperous life, are seen and defined in the lives of great men. FRANKLIN was the embodiment of industry, temperance, and integrity. WILLIAM HUTTON, the Birmingham bookseller, illustrated in his life the virtues of courage and self-reliance. JOHN HOWARD exhibited the value of high aims and singleness of purpose. It is exemplified in the biographies of great men that industry, perseverance, the exercise of wisdom and virtue, infallibly lead to success; just as their rejection and disregard cause life to be a disappointment, and ultimately a wreck. Let but an honourable and possible aim be determined upon, just as such resolutions have been formed in the past, and success will inevitably follow. He that has passed his life waiting upon chance, will be found to have disobeyed the simple conditions of success, and will have himself to blame for the want of that which he so much desired.

It has been wisely said, Nature gives nothing; she insists upon an equivalent. All life, health, cultivation, knowledge, depend upon individual exertion and regard to natural laws. No circumstances can exempt from these claims. It clearly follows, then, that dependence

must be upon the individual, and that welfare and success are the results of personal effort. Carlyle said, "Translate the impossible 'Know thyself,' into the more possible 'Know what thou canst work at.''

The following pages have been written with a strong desire to induce earnestness in life, and to make plain the fact that life is not a lottery, but that it is, on the contrary, subject to law and amenable to order; and that he that resolves to make the most of life, and will use the means, will certainly secure the desired object and the coveted prize-SUCCESS IN LIFE.

II.

What is Success in Life?

""Tis not in mortals to command success;
But we'll do more, Sempronius-we'll deserve it.'

ADDISON.

HE youth starting out in life full of hope and roseate anticipation, sees in the world only bright and sunny prospects, fame and

fortune, awaiting him in the distant city or busy town to which his eager footsteps tend. Bravely and with a resolute heart he begins the "battle of life;" and if he but remembers the kindly counsels of an anxious father, the prayers of a weeping mother, and the promise and purpose of his youthful years, the end of his career will not be wanting in success, although neither fame nor fortune are attained. But what warring influences surround him! what temptations meet him in his course! On one side are arrayed his passions, demanding gratification at any cost-luxury, power, ease, and all sensual pleasures; on the other side is the stern law, refrain, obey, with the unalterable conditions of all human existence. Virtue secures happiness; vice produces misery. If these laws are disregarded,

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