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 favcured 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. Old 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

PUNCTUALITY IN ALL THINGS.

It is astonishing how many people there are who neglect punctuality. Thousands have failed in life from this cause alone. It is not only a serious vice in itself, but it is the fruitful parent of numerous other vices; so that he who becomes the victim of it, gets involved in toils from which it is almost impossible to escape. It makes the merchant wasteful of time; it saps the business reputation of the lawyer; and it injures the prospects of mechanics who might otherwise rise to fortune; in a word, there is not a profession nor a station in life which is not liable to the canker of this destructive habit.

It is a fact not always remembered, that Napoleon's great victories were won by infusing into his subordinates the necessity of punctuality to the minute. It was his plan to manœuvre over large spaces of country, so as to render the enemy uncertain where he was about to strike a blow, and then suddenly to concentrate his forces and fall with irresistible force on some weak point of the extended lines of the foe. The execution of this system demanded that each division of the army should arrive at the specified spot punctually; for, if any part failed to come up, the battle was lost. It was by imitating this plan that the allies finally succeeded in overthrowing the emperor. The whole Waterloo campaign turned on these tactics. At Mount St. Jean, . Blucher was punctual, while Grouchy was not; and the result was that Napoleon fell, and Wellington triumphed.

In mercantile affairs, punctuality is as important as in military. Many are the instances in which the neglect to renew an insurance punctually has led to a serious loss. Hundreds of city merchants are now suffering in consequence of the want of punctuality among their eustomers in paying up accounts. With sound policy do the banks insist, under the penalty of a protest, on the punctual payment of notes; for, were they to do otherwise, commercial transactions would fall into inextricable confusion. Many and many a time has the failure of one man to meet his obligations brought on the

ruin of a score of others, just as the toppling down, in a line of bricks, of the master brick, causes the fall of all the rest.

Perhaps there is no one class of men less punctual than mechanics. Do you want an upholsterer? He rarely comes when he agrees; so with carpenters, painters, and nearly all others. Tailors and shoemakers often do not have their articles home in time. The consequence is, that thousands remain poor all their lives, who, if they were more faithful in their word, would secure a large run of custom, and so make their fortunes. What would become of the Ledger if it was not punctual in going to press or if our papermakers were not punctual in delivering paper? or if our compositors were not punctual in coming to work? Be punctual, if you would succeed.