if he can afford it, to render home attractive, and to make his children wise, virtuous, and happy. Above all, he never grudges what is paid to the faithful schoolmaster for their intellectual and moral training; for a good education he deems above all price.

Having thus liberally provided for all the wants of his household, the good merchant remembers and cares for all who are related to him, and who may in any way stand in need of his aid. And this aid is administered in the most kind and delicate manner. He does not wait to be solicited; he will not stop to be thanked; he anticipates their wishes, and by a secret and silent bounty removes the painful sense of dependence and obligation; he feels it a pleasure as well as a duty to help them; he claims it as his privilege to do good unto his brethren; he would feel ashamed to have his needy relatives relieved by public charity or private alms.

But our good merchant feels that he has duties, not only to his immediate relatives and friends, but to a larger family-the community in which he lives. He is deeply interested in its virtue and happiness, and feels bound to contribute his full share to the establishment and support of all good institutions, particularly the institutions of learning, humanity, and religion. He is led to this by the expansive and liberalizing spirit of his calling. It is unfortunately the tendency of some occupations to narrow the mind and contract the heart. The mere division of labour, incident to, and inseparable from, many mechanical and manufacturing pursuits, though important and beneficial in other respects, yet serves to dwarf and cramp the intellect. The man who spends all

his days in making the heads of pins, thinks of nothing else, and is fit for nothing else. Commercial pursuits, on the other hand, being so various, extensive, and complicate, tend to enlarge the mind, and banish narrow and selfish feelings. The merchant looks abroad over the world, puts a girdle round the earth, has communication with all climes and nations, and is thus led to take large and liberal views of all things. The wealth which he has acquired easily and rapidly, he is consequently disposed to spend freely and munificently. It has been beautifully said of Roscoe, the distinguished Liverpool merchant, "Wherever you go, you perceive traces of his footsteps in all that is elegant and liberal. He found the tide of wealth flowing merely in the channels of traffic; he has diverted from it invigorating rills to refresh the gardens of literature. The noble institutions for literary and scientific purposes, which reflect snch credit on that city, have mostly been originated, and have all been effectually promoted, by him." In like manner, our good merchant encourages learning, and patronizes learned men. He is particularly liberal in endowing the higher seats of education, whence flow the streams that make glad the cities and churches of our God.

Such we conceive to be the character of the good merchant. It may, perhaps, be thought by some, that the character is a visionary one; and that, amid the competitions of trade, the temptations to unlawful gain, the eager desire of accumulating, and the natural unwillingness to part with what has been acquired with much labour and pains, there can be no place for the high-minded and generous virtues which we have de

scribed. We might have thought so, too, if we had never seen them exhibited in actual life. The portrait which we have attempted to draw is not a fancy sketch, but a transcript from nature and reality.

MUCH WISDOM IN LITTLE.

KEEP good company or none. Never be idle. If your hands cannot be usefully employed, attend to the cultivation of your mind. Always speak the truth. Make few promises. Live up to your engagements. Keep your own secrets if you have any. When you speak to a person look him in the face. Good company and good conversation are the very sinews of virtue. Good character is above all things else. Your character cannot be essentially injured except by your own acts. If any one speaks ill of you, let your life be so that none will believe him. Drink no kind of intoxicating liquors. Ever live, misfortune excepted, within your income. When you retire to bed, think over what you have been doing during the day. Make no haste to be rich if you would prosper. Small and steady gains give competency, with tranquillity of mind. Never play at any game of chance. Earn money before you spend it. Never run in debt unless you see a clear way to get out of it again. Never borrow if you can possibly avoid it. Do not marry until you are able to support a wife. speak ill of any one.

Never

THE RIGHT MAN FOR BUSINESS.

GIVE us the straightforward, fearless, enterprising man for business. One who is worth a dozen of those who, when any thing is to be done, stop, falter, and hesitate, and are never ready to take a decided stand. One turns every thing within his reach into gold-the other tarnishes even what is bright; the one will succeed in life, and no adventitious circumstances will hinder him-the other will be a continual drawling moth, never rising above mediocrity, but rather falling below.

Make up your mind to be firm, resolute, and industrious, if you desire prosperity. There is good in that saying of the apostle, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might."

GETTING ON IN THE WORLD.

THERE are different ways of getting on in the world. It does not always mean making a deal of money, or being a great man for people to look up to with wonder. Leaving off a bad habit for a good one, is getting on in the world; to be clean and tidy, instead of dirty and disorderly, is getting on; to be careful and saving, instead of thoughtless and wasteful, is getting on; to be active and industrious, instead of idle and lazy, is getting on;

to be kind and forbearing, instead of ill-natured and quarrelsome, is getting on; to work as diligently in the master's absence as in his presence, is getting on; in short, when we see any one properly attentive to his duties, persevering, through difficulties, to gain such knowledge as shall be of use to himself and to others, offering a good example to his relatives and acquaintances, we may be sure that he is getting on in the world. Money is a very useful article in its way, but it is possible to get on with but small means; for it is a mistake to suppose that we must wait for a good deal of money before we can do any thing. Perseverance is often better than a full purse. Many people lag behind, or miss the way altogether, because they do not see the simple and abundant means which surround them on all sides; and it so happens that these means are aids which cannot be bought with money. Those who wish to get on in the world must have à stock of patience and perseverance, of hopeful confidence, a willingness to learn, and a disposition not easily cast down by difficulties and disappoint

ments.

DEPEND ON YOURSELF.

BAD luck, as well as mischance and misfortune, are all the daughters of misconduct, and sometimes the mother of success, prosperity, and advancement. To be thrown on one's resources, is to be cast into the very lap of fortune. Had Franklin entered Philadelphia with a thou