:
The original text reads 'employes'] under one executive head, the results
of this combined labor may be great success, or where executive ability
is wanting, a great failure.

The successful farmer, merchant, manufacturer, banker, and professional
man must have this combination of ability, firmness, and will power.

PERSEVERANCE.

Those who put their minds on their work, whatever kind that may be,
and persist in its thorough execution; who get interested in something
for their own advancement, that they may become more capable as men
and women of sense and tact; such persons have a lively appreciation
of the fact that success is never more certain to be gained by any
other course.

These people have a just pride in learning the best methods of giving
expression to the faculties and powers they possess, and which they
desire to make the most of. It is incumbent that they do all in their
power for their own and other people's good. Feeling this, an ever
present incentive keeps them employed, and they are never idle.

[Illustration]

If one does not succeed from persisting in doing the best he knows
how, he may conclude that the ministry of failure is better for him
than any worldly success would be.

CIVILITY.

Good behavior is an essential element of our civilization. It should
be displayed every day through courteous acts and becoming manners.

Politeness is said to be the poetry of conduct; and like poetry, it
has many qualities. Let not your politeness he too florid, but of that
gentle kind which indicates a refined nature.

In his relations with others, one should never forget his good
breeding. It is a general regard for the feelings of others that
springs from the absence of all selfishness. No one should behave
in the presence of others as though his own wishes were bound to be
gratified or his will to control.

[Illustration]

In the more active sphere of business, as in the larger localities
where there is close competition, the small merchant frequently
outstrips his more powerful rival by one element of success, which
may be added to any stock without cost, but cannot be withheld without
loss. That element is civility. A kind and obliging manner carries
with it an indescribable charm. It must not be a manner that indicates
a mean, groveling, timeserving spirit, but a plain, open, and
agreeable demeanor that seems to desire to oblige for the pleasure of
doing so, and not for the sake of