I Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013693514 Cornell University Library HF 5386.S69 Successful folks.How they win. Illustrat 3 1924 013 693 514 lIilg''o\'.l/i,Jaj:krn;iii SoccESM Folks. HOW THEY WIN. ILLtrSTRA.TBD IN THE CAEBER OF EIGHT HUNDRED EMINENT MEN. MATTHEW HALE SMITH, (" BdCLEisH " of the Boston Journal.) AUTHOB OF Ain> Shadow in New York," " Bitlls aitd Beabs in Wau. Stbbr,* "IIOTIHT CALVAET," "MaBVEM OP PBATIB," ETO., ETO. " The race Is not forever got, By him who fastest runs: Not the Battel by those peopell, That shoot with the longest gims."— 02(2 P$dhnody. " My father was a farmer, npon the Cameck Border ; And carefnlly he broaght me up, In decency and order : He bade me act a mamy part, tho' I had ne'er a farthing, For without a honest, manly neart, no man was worth regarding,"— JBunm i HAETFOED, comsr. : ^ AMERICAN PUBLISHING COMPAllirT. 1879. Coryilglit, 18T8, bj G. IV. Carleton & Co., Publishers, LONDON : S. LOW & CO. UDCOCLXXYIU. CONTENTS. XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. PAGE Lend me yonr Ears vii Who are a Success 9 Sudden Winning 11 Infatuation of Money 14 J. M. Beebe's Style 18 Lawrence Wins a Customer 19 Civility in Trade 20 How some Men Rise 81 Smart Conductor 23 Death on the Pale Horse 24 Webster Earns a Quarter 25 Hold my Horse 26 Rotten Inside 27 Diamond Cut Diamond 28 Grant's Dish Right Side Up 29 Whistle out of a Pig's Tail 31 Hon. Russel Sage 33 Woman's Heroism 40 Business Repute 41 Nothing to Do 42 Sharp Practice 44 Washington, the Boy 47 Millionaire's First Step 48 Webster as a Boy 49 Webster and Ezekiel 51 Webster chooses a Profession 62 Webster's Audacity 53 Webster at the Bar . : 54 Webster's Money Matters 56 Webster's Habits 57 Forces that Win 58 Start of some Folks - 62 Vanderbilt's Boyhood 69 Vanderbilt's Grit 70 The Commodore's Traits TS Luck in Business 76 [iii] CONTENTS. FASB , 78 . 80 , 81 . sa . 83 XXXVn. Keep up the Stroke XXXVIII. Darling keeps a Hotel yyyry . Paran Stevens XL. He will Win XLI. Accidental Success XLH. Proverbs of Trade ^^ XLin. Mutual Life liisurance Company 99 XLIV. Folks on the Pacific Coast 106 XLV. James Clair Flood 109 XLVL Isaac Lankersheim .... - HO XLVn. W. C. Ralston 113 XLVni. James Lick 113 XLLS. Leland Stanford 114 L. Rev. John Hemphill 116 LI. Right Rev. Bishop Kipp 116 LH. Rev. Isaac S. Kallock 118 Lm. Hon. A. N. Towne 119 LIV. Rev. A. L. Stoiie, D.D 120 LV. Williami Sharon 131 LVI. John C. Duncan 132 LVII. Peter Donahue 133 LVHL Jatoes E. Keene 124 LIX. Chief Justice Charles P. Daly 135 LX. Bogardus, the Photographer 133 LXI. The House of Lawrence 134 LXII. Paddle' your own Canoe 139 LXin. Edward Everett 145 LXrV. Wilson's Struggles 146 LXV. John Quincy Adams 149 LXVI. HarVey D. Parker 150 LXVII. Anecdotes of Eminent Polks 153 tXVm. The Bent of a Boy 174 LXIX. Nelson 183 LXX. ' Stewart's Business Traits 184 LXXL Jay Gould's Boyhood 187 LXXII. Theology as a Trade 190 LXXin. Jeremiah Curtis and Soothing Syrup 195 LXXIV. Rich, the Oysterman 199 LXXV. Morrissey's Story " 301 LXXVI. Location for Business 303 LXXV7I. Romance of the Astors ..^ 304 LXXVin. James Harper's Set-Out , 306 LXXIX. Demas Barnes rolls in some Cotton 308 CONTENTS. V FAOS LXXX. Morgan Dix and Tripity Church ?11 LXXXI. Equitable Life Assurance Spciety 813 LXXXII. Sam Colt 216 LXXXIII. Buying a Country Seat. 217 LXXXIV. House of the Stuarts 218 IjXXXV. Glamor of Public Life 219 JjXXXVT. Trades that Ruin 234 LXXXVIL Blur of Impertinence 335 LXXXVm. Business for Women 228 Detectives at Work 331 Susan A. King 232 W. A. Frits ; 236 Breach of Trust 339 Isaac Hall, Iron Merch^^nt 242 Powers, of the Grand Central 245 Wild Oats and their Harvest 347 Cheating the Dominie 251 Clerical Irregularities 252 Choate as a Lawyer 259 Flies in the Ointment 364 Trade of Authorship , 370 Claflin as a Merchant 371 Moses Taylor— A Steady Pull 273 Boutwell, of the United States Senate 275 Gen. Grant at School 376 MuUer, of Bristol 277 Bryant, of the Post 282 Spurgeon's Industry 283 Toung Stout, the Banker 285 House of Phelps & Co 393 Rocks in the Channel 395 Prof. J. Jay Watson 299 Childs, of the Philadelphia Ledger. 309 Victoria a Business Woman 312 Imposture a Trade - 317 Marshall O. Roberts 319 Business Traits of Napoleon HI 323 Prominent Englishmen 827 Baroness Coutts 331 Delmonico 333 Perils of Avarice 336 HenryF Durant.- 337 Dwight L. Moody 338 Ti CONTENTS. PAOB CXXm. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler S44 CXXrV. James R. Kendrick 349 CXXV. Beecher's Advent into Brooklyn 350 CXXVI. Humor of Sober Men 353 CXXVn. Joseph P. Hale 368 . CXXVm. Rev. George C. Lorimer 378 CXXTX. Alpheus Hardy 383 CXXX. Frederick Tudor 384 CXXXI. Simmons, of Oak Hall 386 CXXXn. Rev. E. L. Magoon 388 CXXXm. Edward A. Sothern 390 CXXXrV. William J. Florence 393 CXXXV. Lotta 394 CXXXVI. Ole Bull, Violinist 396 CXXXVn. Rev. Henry M. Scudder 403 CXXXVm. Rev. T. De Witt Talmage 406 CXXXTX. Habits of Eminent Ministers 411 CXL. Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company 434 CXLI. W. Jennings Demorest and Mme. Demorest 437 CXLH. Literature a Business 431 CXLm. Halsey Wing Knapp, D.D 441 CXLIV. Forty Years of Mercantile Life 448 CXLV. William Emerson Baker 454 CXL VI. Mason & Hamlin Co 457 CXLVH. Charles J. Cragin 460 CXLVm. Rufus S. Frost 461 CXLIX. Boston Christian Union 463 CL. Dexter Smith 466 CLI. John M. Crane 468 CLH. The House of Hook & Co 471 CLm. Alvin Adams 478 CLIV. Oregonia— Outlook of the State 479 CLV. Boston takes a Hand 480 CLVI. City of Portland 481 CLVH. Government of Oregon 482 CLVm. Hon. Henry W. Corbit 483 CLIX. Bishop Morris 484 CLX. Ben Holladay 484 CLXI. Religion in Oregon 485 CLXH. S. G. Reed 485 CLXni. James W. Ranney 486 CLXTV. James Gordon Bennett . , 489 CLXV. Mercantile Outlook 496 LEND ME YOUR EARS. HAVE chosen the style of anecdotal bio- graphy, which Mg,caulay affirms is the true form of history— enforcing practical lessons by ninstration and incidents, rather than by reasoning. I present the inside life of marked men that bears on their success. Incidents in the life of over five hundred eminent men, of all nationalities, illustrate the methods of winning. I have little to do with the fathers or grandfathers of successful people. I take famous folks as I find them, and show how they became so. From my standpoint men who faU have a successful side that is worth looking at. Much of my material has come from original sources. I have aimed to make a book, readable, racy, entertaining and of permanent value to young men who desire to win. I have not exhausted the role of successful people. Those I describe are only selections or samples. A spoonful of wheat is as good as a carload ; an ounce of flour, for body and whiteness, to a grain broker, is aa good as a barrel ; a thin slice from a quarter indicates the character of the meat. [VU] SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. HOW THEY WIN. II. WHO ARE A SUCCESS? TSN are a success who win. Those who make fortunes by trade ; who become eminent in the law ; are star preachers ; earn repute as surgeons ; are celebrated as architects and artisans — are a success. Prosperity need not be con- tinuous. Men, in the struggle for fame and fortune, often exhibit a vigor, persistency, prudence and integ- rity, that desert them when they get money. A man may be a model in one direction, and a failure in another. His defeat may be as instructive as his vic- tory. The history of trade shows that failure is the rule, and winning the exception. One can count on ten fingers the mercantile houses of any great city that have had continued success for quarter of a century. Boston is one of the most prosperous and prudent of commercial towns ; yet her record is significant. Out of 100 firms on Long Wharf, in 40 years, only 5 es- caped failure. Out of 1000 accounts in a leading bank, in 40 years, but 6 remained good. In the probate court, for the same period, out of 100 estates 90 were ' insolvent. In a half century, only 3 mercantile houses [9] 10 SU0CES8FFZ FOLKS. out of 100 acquired independence. Should 95 per cent, of our crops fail ; 95 per cent, of our ships go to the bottom ; 95 per cent, of our warehouses topple down, society, in alarm, would soon ^now the cause. Men spend years in making money, and scatter it in as many months. Property seldom goes to the third generation. The sons of rich men are not the rich men of to-day. Few of our prosperous men in- herited their business from their fathers. The sons of porters or coal-heavers jostle the pampered sons of rich men off the course, and take the money and take the trade. The men who go under were a success in their day, and their early winnings were worth studying. An ocean steamer may make the quickest voyage on record. She is a success, though she rolls her mast overboard on the next voyage, and founders. The gamey horse may win in one trot, and in the next break a leg or dislocate a limb. A man on a wager may climb by the lightning rod to the cross on old Trinity. He wins. On the ball he cuts up antics and comes to the pavement. The Law of Success is as certain as the law of the seasons, and the law of tides. All must obey these laws if they would prosper. A desire to win, — integrity, honor, and piety, do not save a man from disasters, if he fails to observe the law of success. Good inten- tions will not help a ma,n on his way, if he takes the wrong road. A pious man on an errand of mercy, if he mistakes a precipice for a highway, wUl probably break his neck. A mother who administers poison to her child at night, mistaking it for medicine, will find, when it is too late, that maternal love cannot atone for carelessness. The boy who shot his brother, mistak- ing him for a black bear, killed him as really as if he had intended to take his life. No two men apply these laws of trade in the same manner. Stewart's SUDDEN wmmNa. ii methods would ruin forty-nine men out of fifty. Through all Stewart's mercantile career there run cer- tain golden threads, indispensable to success. Not one stock-broker in one hundred could handle Van- derbilt's combinations. But the old commodore had to obey the law of success like common mortals. Men are often ruined by attempting to imitate prosperous traders ; as ministers are laughed at for putting on the airs of star preachers. One man starts out with money, inherits a good name, begins with a line business, and takes the road to failure at the start. Another has no money, no friends to back him, his surroundings are adverse, yet with the first step he moves on to fortune. A mechanic with a hand-saw, a jack-plane, and a ham- mer, will do a better job than some men would do with a chest of tools. Enterprising, resolute, intelligent persons, out of fragments and bits of opportunities, will make a fortune, as the apprentice made the famous cathedral window, out of bits of glass and refuse material Ms master had flung away. III. SUDDEN WINNING. ORTUNES suddenly made are suddenly lost. Many fortunate men are more of a warning than a guide. Money wrongfully acquired, though kept, often has a curse in it. Men who can draw their check for fifty thousand dollars cannot enter society, and the doors are barred against their children. 12 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. TowNSEJVTD made himself famous by his sarsapa- rilla. His mother gave him an old receipt and out of it he made a fortune. His labratory was a small room in a tenement house. He was his own porter, salesman and chemist. He advertised largely, and made Ms compound famous in all the land. He was keen, cool, sagacious. In time he placed himself among the mag- nates on Fifth Avenue. His good judgment forsook him when he became rich. He ran into all sorts of financial vagaries.. His gaudy mansion was kijown as " Townsend's folly." His investments were as b&d as bad could be. As a moneyed man he soon passed out of sight. Horace H. Day was at one time very famous. He had more law-suits on hand than any man in America. Goodyear sold him a license. As Day inter- preted it, it was of immense value. A powerful corpo- ration tried to take it away. Ds-y fought like a tiger. He defended his claims with a pluck and ability that commended universal admiration. He made his foes answer in every State in the Union. A decision won in Baltimore enabled him to dictate terms. Day went out of the struggle with a half a million of money. Then his foUy began. He tied up his wealth in all sorts of ways. His lawyers could not find investments bad enough for him, so he summoned Webster and Clay from the grave. These eminent men, when alive, were very poor financiers. Judging from the nature of these investnients, these men had not improved in these matters since their translation. From an elegant mansion in upper New York, Mr. Day moved to a tenement house on Tenth Avenue. P. T. Baekum wrote a book "to show young men how to make money. He could write a better one to SUDDEN WmmNG. 13 show them how to fool it away. Should a young man start out on Barnum's plan, the chances are ten to one that he would bring up behind the bars of a prison. Barnum's key-note was bad. With him success was getting money. In the race for gold, anything was lawful that was not criminal. Humbug, tricks, deceit, low cunning, false stories, were stock in trade. After repeated failures he wrote himself down a rich man. The next thing was the entree of society. This was not hard to get when a man has money. The doors of fashionable life often swing back on golden hinges. In a fatal hour he resolved to write his life. He did for himself what his worst enemy could not have done for him. He made a clean breast of his methods, and told the world how he made money. He lifted the curtain and asked the public to see how he did his little tricks. He showed the pulleys, the ropes, the trap-doors, and the machinery by which he had amused himself and duped others. He talked about the woolly horse, Joyce Heth, Washington's nurse, and the mermaids. The public did not enjoy it. It was bad enough to be humbugged — quite too bad to be laughed at. Society closed its doors on the- new-comer, and the showman went back to the circus. HelmboIiD led all the patent medicine men in the land. His career was a sensation. Everything was an advertiseihent. His fine drug-store, -his four-in-hand, his burly negro driver all made him famous. His name was on all lips. He had his day, as do all auda- cious men. He made a short turn in the road and was seen no more. Clews was an eminent banker. He worked his way up from a subordinate position in a dry-goods house, and won both fame and fortune. He had ex- 14 SU00E8SFUL FOLKS. cellent business gifts, and won the confidence of moneyed men by Ms judicious investments. Had he remained a banker as he began and let speculations alone, his fortune would have remained with him. When the panic came he had six millions of assets. He was advised to fling them on the market and realize. Had he lost half of his fortune, with his three millions he would have weathered the storm, and been the lead- ing financier of New York. He had not courage to make the sacrifice, so he lost all. The Street has always a king. He struts his brief hour, is dethroned, and another reigns in his stead.. The infatuation of stock speculation is so potent that men allow a fortune to be swallowed up bef oi-e their ~ eyes. Hostlers and horsemen ; ticket-takers and boat- men ; grocers and speculators ; farmers and gamblers, have in their turn, led the street. Each in their turn have been swallowed up in the great maelstrom. IV. INFATUATION OF MONEY. ' I'm a dealer in stocks and in gold and such like ;" Said a stranger, " and sometimes I make a bad strike ; I am anxious to know some infallible rule, To decide when I should be a bear or a bull." ^^HE Bible points out the infatuation of te|^: gain as the great peril of men. That i^^j peril is set forth in this graphic language : '■''' — " They that will be rich fall into tempta- tion and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful INFATUATION OF MONET. 15 lusts, which drowQ men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil ; which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sor- rows." A passion for gain is almost universal. With a travesty on the Bible, men say: — "Get gold, get silver, in all they gettings get gain. Hold it fast. Let it not go. Retain it, for it is thy life." The infatua- tion of money is graphically set forth by the poet. "Gold, Gold, Gold, Gold. Bright and yellow, hard and cold ; !&Iolten, graven, hammered and rolled; Hard to get, and light to bold; Hoarded and bartered, bought and sold ; Stolen, squandered, borrowed and doled; Spurned by the young, and hugged by the old, To the very verge of the church -yard mold; The price of many a crime untold. Gold, Gold, Gold, Gold." The great temptation that besets young business men is the love of gain. They see with their own eyes what money can do. It gives men a solid standing in society. Men of money have a potential voice on 'change. Money builds costly palaces, with servants, statuary, paintings, elegant turnouts and display. Some of these moneyed men dug gravel, wheeled coals, were tide-waiters and stevedores, beat out iron on an anvil, peddled milk, ran gin-mills and kept corner groceries, run with the machine and slept on bulk- heads. But for money they would have no position to-day. Some of these splendidly-dressed women who loll in their carriages and throw dust in the face of honest toil, once took in washing,- scrubbed offices, walked the streets all night because they couldn't pay for a bed, kept shilling lodgers, and except in the mat- ter of wealth, are the same women still. 16 8UGCBS8FUL FOLKS. Money is king,— not bayonets, nor troops. Doub- loons in the cellar of Frederick the Great had quite as much to do with his victories as his tall grenadiers and his famous generals. " Wto hold balance of the world ? Who reign O'er conquerors, -whether Royal or Liberal ? "Who rouse the stubborn patriots of Spain, That make old Europe's journals squeak and jibberal f Who keep the world, both old and new, in pain, Or pleasure ? Who make politics run glibberal ? The shades of Bonaparte's noble daring ? Jew Rothschild, and his fellow Christian, Baring." "Wall Street rules America as Lombard Street rules England. Money moves the crops that make the great West the granary of the world. It builds railroads, endows colleges, erects theological seminaries, builds costly churches, and pays star preachers. Vile men, because they are rich, fill important offices. Men of base lives, and dissolute conduct, are regarded as fit company for delicate maidens because their bank ac- count is large. The bad influence of the infatuation of gain comes out in the selection of a calling. Young men see what money can do, and they start out to get it. Their aim is not business, reputation, character, and a fortune by and by, but their point is money, and money in hand. They have a fortune to make, and must be about it. Good places are scarce, and men in paying places seldom resign, and few die. Banks are full. Insur- ance companies are filled with relatives. An eligible position pays §mall at the start, if it does not demand payment for a green hand to enter into the service. Few young men are willing to take what they can get, and trust to the future. They want wages. If repu- table employment wiU not furnish this, a bad trade INFATUATION OF MONET. 17 will. ' ' I don' t like this work ' ' a young man says, ' ' but I must take wliat I can get." The work will stick to him, for he that " touches pitch ivill be defiled." Mr. Odell had a great number of young men in his school. A foreign rum-seller who sold liquor on Sundays ap- plied to Mr. Odell for a good boy to keep the bar. "But my boys are Sunday-school boys." "I knows dat, I vants a Sunday-school boy. He von't drink up de liquors nor steal de moneys." However humble a calling may be, if it is an honest one, a man may make a ^success of it. The largest periodical dealer in New York, who is a millionaire, began life a penniless boy selling his papers in rain and in storm. The head of a heavy paper-house in New York began life by picking and assorting rags. A wealthy merchant wore the red shirt and ran with a machine for several years. A well known philanthropist laid the foundation of his great wealth by picking iip-the hoofs and bones of horses, out of which he made a sui)erior article of glue. A wealthy banker, when a boy, sought a place. The first order given to him was to black a pair of boots. "You have given them a good shine." "My mother told me to do everything well," said the lad. The boy is now a well known banker, and the man whose boots he blacked lives in a tenement house. A man who has a good trade and brings to it brains and diligence, and can afford to wait, w ill be a success. 2 ^ 18 SUCCE88FUL FOLKS. J. M. BEBEE'S STYLE. AMES M. BEBEE was one of the solid men of Boston. At the start he was a small trader. He worked his way up till he became a mer- chant prince. His style was peculiar: he was unimpassioned — ^gentle in his manners — spoke soft and low — and seemed to be taking every one into his confidence. He was as bland and conciliatory to a woman buying a paper of pins, as he was to a proud lady bargaining for a satin dress. He was a gentleman to every one, from the porter to the head clerk. He seldom gave a command. He usually requested that a thing might be done. It was not safe for an emyloyee to neglect that request. One day a Western trader came into the store and demanded to see Mr. Bebee. He was under great excitement, evidently expected to produce a sensation, and was prepared for the worst. The little trap-door was thrown open, and the merchant looked pleasantly down on his irate visitor, and asked him what he wanted. This cool proceeding did not mend matters. " I have been greatly misused in thia house, sir. I purchased a bill of goods, and when they reached me at the West, they were not the goods I purchased." A tap of the bell brought up the culprit who sold the goods, and he was asked to explain. "Nearly all the line was the one purchased that run out, a better class was put in at the same price to fill up the order, and that was all there was about it." This sensible statement only made the man more mad. He saw he was doubly in the wrong and was getting the worst of it at every move. "I don't care about a LAWRENCE WINS A OUSTOMEB. 19 better style— I want the goods I buy. I don't thank any one to change my order." The merchant took the man in hand, and gave him all the line he wanted. "You are quite right, sir. The salesman should not have sent you anything you did not order. Send back the goods, we will pay the expenses and make good your loss." " You can't make good my loss ; I have lost the sales ; the season is gone for the styles that I wanted." "Don't you think we can approximate towards the damages?" said the bland merchant. "You can't have lost more than your whole season, and this store is good for a million." "Oh ! well, if you can be a gentleman, I can be a gentleman too. Show us what you have got." VI. LAWRENCE WINS A CUSTOMER. BBOTT LAWRENCE was a princely mer- chant. He was courteous and lordly to his customers. He exhibited his goods as if he were doing a personal favor. He was liberal in his style of doing things, throwing in the odd quarter of a yard of cloth, and the odd shilling in change. When he gained a customer he kept him. The house of the Lawrences held a monopoly of heavy beavers and wide broadcloths. A country trader bought a few yards of cloth at ten dollars a yard. On measuring the goods at home they ran short a quarter of a yard. The trader was almost afraid to speak of 30 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. SO small a matter to so courtly a merchant. On Ms next visit to Boston, he plucked up courage enough to say: "Mr. Lawrence, when I was here a few months ago, I bought a few yards of fine broadcloth.." "Yes, at ten dollars a yard." "According to my measure- ment it fell short a quarter." " Fell short a quarter ? That will never do ; it should have overrun a quarter." Turning to his bookkeeper, he said : "Credit this gen- tleman with half a yard of our best broadcloth." That customer was nailed for life. YII. CIVILITY IN TRADE. IISTDREW V. STOUT is president of the New York Shoe and Leather Bank. As a lad he had a good education, and started business as a school teacher. He went into trade. After several reverses he made a fortune. He has no equal among bankers for integrity and good judgment. His urbanity and courtesy have been winning cards. He is accessible to all comers. He is never so busy but he has time to say : "Sit down, sir ; I will be at leisure in a moment." A well-known merchant came to the bank to open an account. He handed in a heavy certificate of deposit. "You may like to know, Mr. President, why I open an account with your bank." " I suppose you think your money will be safe." " It was safe enough in the other bank. No ; I came here because you are civil. I went into my old bank this sow SOME MEN RISE. 31 morning, and accidentally laid my hat on the cashier's desk. He looked at me with the air of fifty millions, and said, ' Take your hat off from my desk, sir. Now I will hear you.' ' I want nothing to do with you,' I replied. I went to the bookkeeper and ordered him to make up my account. I will never cross the threshold of that institution again while that impertinent cashier holds his position." VIII. HOW SOME MEN RISE. I YOUNG MAN was promoted to the position of cashier over the heads of a score of asso- ciates. He was capable, energetic and civil. He entered the bank as a subordinate, and rose rapidly. He was always at his place ; did his own work, and often the work of others. He came first in the morning, and left last at night. He assisted the clerks who were behind in their work, or who wanted go away. He studied the comfort of the public and was very popular. He became paying teller. As three o'clock approached men rushed in to draw their money. He would say, ' ' Don' t crowd, gentlemen, don' t crowd ; you shall have plenty of' time." When a discount was denied, or was less than a customer asked for, the young teller was chosen to break the intelligence. Men would take a refusal from him with a better grace than a favor from some others. On the morning of the election he had no more idea of being cashier than he had of being president. 22 8UCCM8SFUL FOLKS. In one of the large hotels a Room Clekk has an extraordinary salary. He is bland, attentive, and cor- dial. He can stow away more people in the nooiks, crannies, and corners of the house and make them feel comfortable, than any living man. He came down one morning and found a well-known customer pacing the office in evident temper. To his cheery good»morning the clerk received a gruff reply. "When did you come in ?" "Last night." " I hope you have a good room." "I have not. They sent me up to thunder, and there is not room in my quarters to swing a cat." "Oh! that stupid night-clerk did not know you brought your cat with you. I'll manage it after break- fast. You shall have a room big enough to swing a half a dozen cats." With a hearty laugh the customer turned off to breakfast. At the Cashier's desk in a large restaurant near the City Hall, a young man can be seen day after day in his place. He is quiet, prompt, and gentlemanly. He has no words for anyone outside of his business. Everyone is treated with perfect civility. He was a hall- boy at the start, and did his work willingly and cheerfully. He was put at the oyster stand and won custom. The best patrons of the house wanted to be served by the cheery lad. By sturdy persistency he worked his,way up to his present responsible and pro- fitable position. Everywhere politeness is at a pre- mium. Ladies who order a coach call for a driver who is civil. Families take a train because the conductor is good-natured. Men stand in rows at an eating- house, and wait to be served by a favorite waiter. Some traders are so crusty that customers will not buy of them. A cheery face and a civil tongue go a long way towards helping one on the road to fortune. SMART OONDUCTOR. 23 If a man is not sound and true, his exposure is only a question of time. A young man held a position of great importance in the city of New York. He was an elegant fellow and an earnest worker in the Sunday- school. He built a handsome Sunday-school building and jjresented it to the church of which he was a mem- ber. He adorned it with all modern improvements and with every luxury. He lived in fine style, and it was said he could afford it. His salary was large, but was not sufficient for his outgoes. He betrayed his trust, used his office for personal ends, levied blackmail, is under indictment, and will either flee the country, or wear the garb of a State's prison convict. Another young man was a great worker in Christian associa- tions. He was connected with a great cash company, and his repute was unquestionable. With all his loud professions he was an embezzler, and was arrested while a delegate to a national convention. IX. SMART CONDUCTOR. RASTUS CORNING was president of the Central Railroad. He was a lame man, and not very prepossessing in looks. He stood one day on the platform, and was about to step onto the cars. A conductor who did not know him, shouted: "Come, hurry up old man; don't be all day about it, the train can't w?iit.'" The con- ductor went round to take up the tickets. A passenger jsaid to him : " Do you know the gentleman you ordered 24 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. on board?" "Fo, and I don't want to know him." "It may be worth your while to make his acquain- tance. He is your boss, the president of the road, and he'll take your head off." The conductor gave a low whistle, and looked as if he'd think about it. He put a bold face on the matter, sought out the president, and offered an apology. "Personally I care nothing about it," said Mr. Corning. "If you had been so rude to any one else, I would have discharged you on the spot," he continued. "You saw that I was lame, and that I moved with great difficulty. The fact that you did not know who I was, does not alter the complexion of your act. I'll keep no one in my em- ploy who is uncivil to travelers." DEATH ON" THE PALE HORSE. |HANCELLOR WALWORTH held private court at the Springs. He was not a stylish liver, but moved about Saratoga without os- tentation. A young lawyer, who was sitting on the piazza, had a motion before the court at the hour of noon. An old man on a bony white steed rode up to the hotel, suggesting, as the lawyer said, ' ' Death on the pale horse." The young counselor was ripe for fun. He walked down to the curbstone, and opened a conversation with the old gentleman ; asked the price of the horse, his speed, his age, and his record, and made himself quite entertaining. A friend said as he WEBSTER EABN8 A QUABTEB. 25 came back, "I thought you did not know Chancellor Walworth ?" " Never saw him in my life. " " That' s a pretty story. You have been talking and laughing with him for a half an hour." "Then I've ruined my case. My motion is an important one, and I dare not look the judge in the face." He got some one to ap- pear for him, and learned that civility, at a venture, never misses its mark. XI. WEBSTER EARNS A QUARTER. EBSTER loved to be known as the "Par- mer of Marshfield." His farm dress was a slouched hat, a blue blouse, with pants tucked into his boots. He was more at ease in the woods with a hatchet in his hand, than in the Senate, or in the saloons of fashion. The Webster mansion was not easy to find. A Washington official attempted to reach it "across lots." He came to a stream, and opened conversation with a woodsman, who was cutting brush. "Is Mr. Webster at home?" "He is." "How can I cross the brook?" "Jump, or wade." " Here, old fellow, I'll give you a quarter to carry me over." The woodsman took the stripling on his brawny shoulders — landed him safely — declined the fee — pointed out the road to the mansion, and soon followed. He met the young official at the library door — transacted the business without a change of dress — put the visitor at his ease — and drove him to the station in his own carriage. SUOCmSFUL FOLKS. xn. HOLD MY HORSE. OV. FRANCIS of Rhode Island was a farmer. His salary was less than a thousand dollars a year. This did not justify much style. The Governor carried on the farm, and his wife — after the order of New England women — did her own housework. A young man, aid to a Governor, rode up to the mansion and asked an old man digging post-holes to hold his horse. The aid went to the front door, and made his presence known by a severe rapping. The mistress of the house, direct from her kneading trough, answered the door and invited the caller in. " The Governor was in, and she would sum- mon him." But he was not to be found. The peculiar halloo towards the barn elicited no response. He was not at the side door, nor in the field. The coat hang- ing behind the door indicated that the Governor was not far away. The lady at length looked towards the carriage — ^gave a slight scream — exclaiming : " La ! a mercy ! there's the Governor holding your horse." The abashed messenger transacted his business and de- parted, fully satisfied that 'tis not always safe to judge by appearances. The men who made this country were not ashamed of toil. The earlier merchants earned their own fortunes. They made their money out of their customers and not out of their creditors. They ate their bread, honestly earned, and enjoyed the sweet sleep of the " laboring man." ROTTEN INSIDE. 27 ^^^^^ xni. ROTTEN INSIDE. O bankpg house seemed to stand firmer than that 6f which W. Butler Duncan was the head. He inherited a business, had a large cash capital to start with, and exhibited real estate amounting to over a million. The Rothschilds were his correspondents, and his letters of credit were good round the globe. Men pressed their money on him for safe keeping. Widows and orphans were con- gratulated that their little property was in such hands. It was a fool's trade when all this was bartered for wild speculation. This seemingly safe house rested on a sandy foundation, and its ruin was only a ques- tion of time. It paid six per cent, for deposits, while sound houses paid but four. It professed to be doing a purely legitimate banjsing business, while it was chin deep in all sorts of financial vagaries. The real estate securities belonged to others. In the midst of all this seeming prosperity, the firm was like a granite block erected in Boston. The builder said it would stand if filled with pig lead. It came down with the first stock of goods, for its foundations were rotten. Many of our business houses in New York date back two or three generations. This business repute is better than stocks, bonds, or money, which convulsions can't shake, robbers can't steal, the cyclones of trade can't engulph. SUCOSSSFUL FOLKS. XIV. DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND. ANY people live by their crimes. They unite in gangs, make war on society, have head- quarters, agents, expressmen and bankers. No trades are prosecuted with more vigor. No people are more adroit, skillful or successful. An ocean steamer left the Mersey for New York. Among the passengers was a lady who seemed to be traveling alone, and a young lawyer who paid her marked atten- tion. In a journal on board there was an account of a trial of a well-known man for forgery. His wife, sup- posed to be an accessory, had fled the country, AH efforts to .save the culprit from prison failed. The lawyer got an impression that the woman on the ship was the fugitive wife, and the woman knew that she was suspected. She resolved to make the counselor pay for his knowledge. Soon after the ship reached the dock, the young man received a note asking him to call at her hotel on business. The important business turned out to be a request for a loan of $500. The woman had the lawyer in her toils. He held an im- portant position, and his reputation was without a stain. To connect his name any way with a woman would harm him. She kept a record of his little at- tentions on shipboard. He was that moment in heir private room at a hotel. He took in the situation at a glance and was equal to it. He obtained ten days in ■ which to affect the loan. Those were busy days. It was the time of the Tweed regime. A petition was got up, largely signed, and sent in to the governor asking for the pardon of the forger. The day the money was GRANT'S DISH BIGHT SIDE UP. 39 to have been paid, the criminal walked in to the aston- ishment and alarm of the wife. An indictment hung over her, add she had to follow her husband over the seas. To outwit a blackmailer a criminal had to be pardoned and a woman banished. XV. GRANT'S DISH RIGHT SIDE UP. ENERAL GRANT is a luqky man. The war found him in a tan-yard keeping books at $600 a year. He was lucky in getting a West Point education. But for this, the war would have left him where it found him. He started for the Capitol, but had no friend at. court. He kicked his heels against the lintels of the State house waiting for employment. JSTo one recognized in the needy applicant the coming man. He offered his services to the War Department, and the snobby official threw the letter into the waste basket. It was neither answered nor preserved. His manners did not inspire confi- dence. He was snubbed by porters, grinned at by corporals, and laughed at by officers who were fuss and feathers. Grant was always on hand. He took the first thing that turned up, and did thoroughly and cheerfully everything he put his hand to. He was clerk in the State house ; an ornamental member of the Governor's staff ; sent troops to the front and got praise from the Secretary of War ; subdued a mutin- ous regiment, and was sent out West with a colonel's commission to get rid of him. He was in the way out 30 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. West and efforts were made to remove him. A recall was signed by President Lincoln, but as luck would have it, before Grant could be found, Vicksburg sur- rendered. He bought an old worn-out farm for a song on the outskirts of St. Louis, on which to raise horses. It is now in the heart of the city, cut up into house lots, and its owner is a millionare. A young man, un- known to fame, with neither money nor influence, with no patrons or friends, in six years fights more battles, gains more victories, captures more prisoners, takes more spoils, commands more men, than Napoleon did in twenty years. His enemies put into his hands the commission which up to that time no one but Wash- ington had ever borne. He occupied the seat that Washington graced, and carved with his own sword his name imperishably on the facade of the republic. Grant met his luck half way. He pulled where he was hitched, and did what he was bid. He was self- reliant, acting on his own judgment. He called but one council of war, and rejected the advice it gave. He is a man of few words, keeping his own purposes to himself. Napoleon's secretary of war pronounced on him this high eulogium : "Grant is a remarkable man. In a nation of talkers he seems to be the only silent person." He is a man of iron nerve and his boldness is memorable. On the Black Friday he walked into the treasury building and gave an order that demoralized the gold conspirators. He is noted for his obstinacy. In the war, committees could not control him, nor, cliques in peace. Nobody wanted him in the army. His old comrade McClellan turned his back on him when Grant asked for a place on his staff. His energetic talks about seizing forts and crip- pling armies were not pleasant to hear. Unconditional surrender had a popular ring in it that politicians did not like. Like Napoleon, Wellington, and Nelson^ WEISTLE OUT OF A PIG'S TAIL. 31 Grant became disgusted with his treatment, and pro- posed to leave the service. But for the advice and influence of Sherman he would have done so. Six months after his letter of resignation was written Hal- leck was removed, and Grant became lieutenant-general of the United States army. XVI. WHISTLE OUT OF A PIG'S TAIL. TALENTED man can make a success out of anything. Tourjee wanted music in schools, as reading, arithmetic and grammar were taught. A stubborn trustee said it could not be done. " You might as well make a whis- tle out a pig's tail," he said. Tourjee bought a pig's tail — dug out the bone — made a whistle stout enough for a locomotive — blew it in the ear of the astonished trustee, saying, "There's the pig's tail — here's the whistle — now let us have the music." A stupid fellow will fling away the best chances ; a third-rate man in a first-rate place is still third-rate. A first-rate man in a subordinate position will come to the front. Every day men are taken from coach-box and put into the ofB.ce ; from an oyster-bed and promoted ; from a low place on a railroad or in a store to a superior one. "We can't afford to have you down here, you are worth too much ; come up higher." Hilton was not a smart man nor a talented man, but he was just the man Stewart wanted — cool, cautious, accurate. He wrote a handsome hand, and Stewart's papers came to him in 32 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. elegant order. He did what Stewart wanted him to do and did it after his employer] s fashion. The founder of a paper house who began business as a rag-picker was honest at the start. His bundles were what they professed to be. First-class rags were by themselves, the weight and quality never failed. He won the confidence of the trade and has kept it to this hour. Some of the proud men on Brooklyn Heights peddled milk, and made fortunes from cow pastures turned into city lots. Others were in trades that would not now be considered reputable. These men had sense enough to get out of the business as soon as they had money enough to do so. A woman saved money sufficient out of cheap lodgings to buy a lot. On it she ran up a rude shanty, nailing on the boards with her own hands. Out of her customers she supported her old mother and invested her savings in real estate. She is now worth ten millions. A smart lad got into a down-town store. He kindled fires, ran errands, and did chores. He set up for a small trader, bought a few pounds of soap and a few pounds of sugar and coffee. He founded the great coffee house of Small & Bacon. A young man came from the State of Maine. He had a handsaw, a hammer and a small kit of tools. He was a sober, industrious and frugal. He saved money, put it into real estate, built Rutgers Row, and no mechanic in New York is better known than Higgings. Carman was a carpenter. He made a specialty of sugar boxes. He put his wages in real estate, and Carmansville is a monument to his prudence and success. HON. BUaSEL SAOE. 33 XVII. HON. EUSSEL SAGE. USSEL SAGE stands foremost among the financial men of the country. He leads the mammoth stock operations on Wall street. His rooms on William street are as plain as a New England barn. His private ofiice is a little den of a room, opening into two spacious chambers. An oil-cloth covers the floor, and an iron railing keeps back the crowd. In this unpretentious office, gigantic operations take place. Mr. Sage's movements are watched. Speculators dog his steps ; they head him off in the street ; interrupt his meals ; and spring upon him in all the out-way places of business. He is a bold and successful railroad man. His banking trans-, actions are heavy. Without controversy, he is the leader of the street. He has the confidence of busi- ness men who will not trust each other. Men put mil- lions into his hands, having the fullest confidence in his financial ability and integrity. Quiet, reserved and modest, he comes to the front in all the great transactions of the street. Mr. Sage was born in Oneida county, New York. He received a good education, and at ten years of age he entered a mercantile house in Troy. He showed '■ marked business capacity and superior judgment. At twenty he went into business for himself. Soon after, he opened a wholesale trade. He earned the repute of being honest, capable, and being endowed with sterling integrity. In a ward opposed to him politically, he was elected alderman. He kept his seat in the city councils seven years. He was elected treasurer by the 34 aUGGESSFUL FOLKS. popular vote, and held Ms position till transferred to the Thirty-third Congress. His career from 1853 to 1857 was distinguished by political sagacity, marked ability and executive force. He did exceUent service as a committee of ways and means, and occupied a place on other important committees of the house. An incident occurred when Mr. Sage was twenty- four years of age, which shows the esteem in which Mr. Sage was held by the eminent men of his party. An attempt was made to jostle Senator Seward off the track. The Tyler administration did not like him. His counsels were unheeded. His friends could obtain no appointments. Mr. Sage was selected to visit Wash- ington, and if possible remove the ban, and to have justice done to Mr. Seward's principles and position. Mr. Sage accomplished the mission with great adroit- ness and success. An offensive appointment was re- voked at a cabinet meeting. A friend of Mr. Seward received a commission. Mr. Sage watched the appoint- ' ment through all its phases, and took the commission home with him to Troy. With Mr. Sage originated the idea of purchasing Mount Vernon, and making it a national domain. Mr. Sage agitated, the question at home, and introduced into Congress the original resolution for the purchase. He made an effective speech on the measure and car- ried the House of Representatives with him. He advo- cated the appointment of a committee of ladies, which grew into the Mount Vernon Association. The success of the measure was the subject of general congratula- tion. His constituents were proud to say " our repre- sentative did it." Seward jocosely said, "You have stolen my thunder. Sage." Mr. Sage found in the railroads of the country a field suited to his tastes and ability. On leaving Con- gress he entered upon the construction of these iron nOX. IIUSSEL SAGS. 35 pathways. He built and managed more lines than any other man in America. His name is identified with the most successful roads of the country. He displayed great talent for developing and managing this gigantic interest. He has built over three thou- sand miles of road, and ha^ been contractor and presi- dent of the heaviest lines in the land. He built three roads in New York, four in Wisconsin, two in Indiana, one in Illinois, two in Ohio, four in Min- nesota, beside roads in Schenectady, St. Paul, and Milwaukee. Like all men of marked business ability, when Mr. Sage has outgrown one great interest, he turns his at- tention to another. For the past three years Mr. Sage has controlled the great money interests of the street. His peculiar business required a great amount of ready money, and he became a prominent banker. He was known in the city as one of the heaviest real estate operators. With an enormous push and force, his ex- cellent judgment made him conservative. He believes that the prosperity of a city or country depends on keeping its banks, railroads and moneyed institutions sound and healthful. In times of panic and alarm, he has used his great wealth and influence to uphold these institutions. In periods of mercantile disaster^ he is always appealed to, and his foresight, sagacity and good Judgment has more than once averted threatened convulsion. "During my business career in New York," he says, "I have seen over fifty per cent, of the moneyed men go under." Mr. Sage is a man of fine presence. He is tall, slim, erect as a Mohawk warrior. His hair is dark, his expression pleasant, manner genial, his voice low and magnetic, his action prompt and decided. His in- fluence over men has always been great. He is cool, sagacious, level-headed, a judicious adviser and a 38 SUOGESSFUL FOLKS. Steadfast and liberal friend. " I have no rules of suc- cess," he said, "I have no plans and no special methods of doing business, I meet the matters that press upon me day by day, I do the best 1 can with everything that demands my attention. I settle each case by the light I have, I settle each case on its own merits, I have no regret when a thing is done, and I have done the best I could." Mr. Sage's style of business wins confidence. He is systematic, prompt and decided, he never betrayed a trust. When moneyed institutions get by the ears, men sa,y : " Call in Sage ; he will straighten things out. ' ' In attempts at consolidation when parties cannot agree Mr. Sage is called in as an arbitrator. All sides ac- knowledge his fairness. Privileges, as they are called, better known as straddles, originated with Mr. Sage. He originated the business to remove despondency ; to help men who are down ; to enable men to trade in a small way who need assistance. The principle is simply a loan of capital and credit to impoverished men. By privileges he can help others and not damage himself. The busi- ness demands a very large sum of money. Such is the confidence in Mr. Sage's ability and integrity that his privileges are eagerly sought for. Whether his losses are heavy or light all men know that he Avill take care of his promises. Vanderbilt was reputed to be worth eighty millions. The old millionaire was caught in the panic of seventy- three. He was in a terrible fix with the Lake Shore road. Money could not be obtained from any quarter. There was danger that one of our heaviest banks would close it doors. Twelve millions must be secured in seven days or the crisis would come. All eyes were turned to Mr. Sage, as they had often been before. He could have used his -funds for private purposes, and HON. RUS8EL 8AQE. 37 reaped the golden harvest. His great public spirit in- duced him to listen to the public cry. He secured the sum needed ; the bank maintained its credit, and the State was saved a terrible mercantile disaster. Mr. Sage has alw^ays contended that the great money center of New York must be kept sound ; that men of business must be attracted to the city. No bank or well-regulated institution, he argued, ought to go to the wall for want of a little timely aid. Probably no busi- ness man in New York has so large a cash account as Mr. Sage, and he is always ready to assist a struggling institution with temporary aid. Mild and genial as he seems to be, he is as firm as adamant in matters of busi- ness. He is even autocratic. "I will assist you," he would say, "but you must commit this whole matter to me ; give me unlimited power, and submit to my d,ecision." The Union Trust Company was heavily embarrassed. Money could not be obtained at any price. Mr. Sage was appealed to. He took in the situation at a glance. He saw the financial ruin that would follow. He secured the necessary relief, — much of it was his own money, — and saved the great public interest. Many would have used his position for their private ends. Mr. Sage chose to serve the public. The ablest business men in the country had labored for years to unite under one management the great telegraph lines of the nation. The union was deemed a public necessity. All attempts at a consolidation had failed. Mr. Gould grasped the Atlantic and Paci- fic lines. He could bear the stock at will. Nobody could control him, no writing bind him. As usual, under such a crisis, Mr. Sage was called in. He re- garded the union of the telegraph interests as of na- tional importance. So far all efforts failed ; meetings 88 BUC0E8SFUL FOLKS. came to naught, and agreements were drawn up only to be broken. A new element appeared in Wall street. Keene in California introduced the tactics of the coast and be- came an ally of Jay Gould. Keene was bold, daring and successful. He had made five millions in five years, and in the stock board made an unusual stir. In a few months Keene fell out with Gould and Mr. Sa^e saw his opportunity. He joined forces with Keene and got control of Gould's own stock. Gould saw he was outwitted, and placed his interest in Mr. Sage's hands. The whole movement was bold, keen and successful. The futile work of years gave way to a successful consolidation. He had put a capital of fifty millions under one management. It subjected six thousand miles of line to one key-board. The Western Union stock went up from fifty-six to sixty- four. The Atlantic and Pacific from seventeen to' twenty -five. What Orton, Morgan and other eminent financiers could not do, though they were years about it, Mr. Sage accomplished in a few months. Management of the Pacific Mail came into the hands of Mr. Sage. The company was embarrassed and on the eve of bankruptcy. A crushing debt of five mil- lions rested upon it. Stockwell's administration was disastrous. The extravagance of other officials para- lyzed the company. Mr. Sage was called to the helm by universal demand as the only man who could save the company. He loved the Pacific coast. He resolved to sustain the only line that bore the American flag. The Golden Gate and China must be kept open to American commerce. The great coast trade belonged to America and must not be diverted to England. Mr. Sage took command with his usual vigor, telegraphed funds to the Pacific coast to save the line from bank- ruptcy. EON. BU88EL SAGE. 39 From boyhood up Mr. Sage's career has been a remarkable one. He early displayed talents and traits that, rightly guided, unerringly win. His industry was a habit. Economy was a necessity. He had an aptitude at trade when a mere youngster. He walked surely up through all the grades of store boy, clerk, salesman, retailer, and wholesale dealer. The same trusted and capable trader in each relation. He seemed a bom leader, and came to the front naturally. He relied on no chances, but trusted level-headedness, fidelity, and strong common sense. In his earlier busi- ness life he was distinguished for force, push, and financial keenness. He grew rich and conservative. Fast horses, yachts, and genteel dissipations had no charm for him. Mr. Sage has a marked eye for beauty. Though not a fast man he likes a good stepper on the road. His team is elegant, gentle, fleet, and in his recreation takes nobody's dust. He is proud of his horses. They whinny his coming, and respond to his gentle touch in the stable with marked affection. He uses his great gifts with wisdom, and gratefully as a Christian should do. He lives in elegant style, has his home on Fifth avenue, where he despenses a genial hospitality. His gifts are large, but unostentatious. He is identi- fied with the large philanthropic institutions of the city. He is modest, cheery, and attractive in social life, and has hosts of friends. Mrs. Sage is an attractive lady, and is of one of the wealthy Germaine families of Long Island. She is a lady of quiet disposition, re- fined, and intelligent. She has much to do with the great charities of the city. She is a lady of great ex- ecutive ability. There is scarcely an institution that assists the suffering with which she is not officially connected 40 BUG0E8SFUL FOLKS. XVIII. WOMAN'S HEROISM. WOMAN in New York is reputed to be worth two million dollars. When a girl she left her New England home to seek a for- tune. She passed her first night in New York walking the streets, for she had not money enough to pay for lodgings. She kept her destitution to herself. She engaged a small rOom, and solicited pupUs from house to house. Her cheery face, neat attire, and reso- lution won. She opened a school with six pupils. She had but one dress and that she washed at night. Her school grew in fame and in strength. Some of the most eminent men of New York were her patrons. She had a great knack at trading, traveled in the west and the south as a saleswoman, invested wisely, and became rich. One of the most eminent physicians in New York owed his wealth to his wife's mother. This woman was a Philadelphia milliner. During the war of 1812, she bought a large bankrupt stock of ribbons and mil- linery goods. The war closed, and the stock rose on her hands. She invested her gains in a farm on the Bloomingdale road. A few hundred dollars invested in fancy goods swelled into a colossal fortune. Two ladies were left heirs to a large landed estate. The property yielded nothing, while the taxes and assessments nearly ate everything up. The girls suf- fered every privation, but held on to the land. I heard Bishop Onderdonk say, that whUe he was rector of BUSINESS BEPUTB. 4J Trinity Church, the ladies gave up their pews, for they were too poor to pay their rent. They held on, and are now millionaires. XIX. BUSINESS REPUTE. EPUTATION is as good as capital ; character is better. Reputation is what a man passes for ; character is what he is. A man on th& Pacific coast sent a box of gold dust to a Boston chemist. He had a mountain full he said, enough to pay the National debt. The dust was worthless. The repute was gold ; character was iron pyrites. Calling iron pyrites gold dust don't make it so. Reputation is invaluable, but men rise by charac- ter. An intelligent row boy will keep a hotel. A smart and fair news boy will edit a journal or own a book store. A bright store boy will grow into a mer- chant. A trademark is often a fortune in itself. The pioneers on the Pacific coast demand axes from a par- ticular factory in Massachusetts. One style of Ameri- can prints are in demand at Manchester. Plated ware of a particular house sells in Sheffield. Some brands of flour and sugar lead the market. Merchants who are millionaires are men of repute. Lawyers who take thousand-dollar retainers and grow into judges, are men of character. A doctor who wins golden fees^ earns them by years of honor, study and skill. 4a SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. XX. NOTHING TO DO. MPLOYMENT is both the duty and the charm of life. Indolence and sloth enervate, and both take from man the capacity to enjoy. The crime of Sodom, as the Bible records it, was, "Pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idle- ness ;" too much to eat, and nothing to do. When Roman emperors were taken from the plow the empire was mistress of the world. When idleness was a crime in Judea the vaUeys were hot-beds of vegetation, and the mountains were terraced to their summit with fruit and verdure. Young America takes his first false step when he enters business to make money that he may idle away life in sensual enjoyment. It is no unusual thing for an avaricious, grasping man, to make toil so distasteful to his boys as to drive them off from the farm into trade. Farm life, to the average boy, is drudgery. All the day is fiUed up with work. "Time is money," and "A penny saved is two pence clear," are proverbs drilled into him from the cradle. If he turns the grindstone his father will hold on hard to encourage him. The boy's mother works like a galley slave, and will till she drops into the grave. His sisters are denied music, amusements, and pictorials, for they cost money. Nobody can take an afternoon's drive, for man and beast are wanted in the field. The boy has no time to hunt, fish, snare rabbits, or mend his skates. A country cousin finds his relative chop- ping wood in the back yard. Visitor has come up from the city. He wears shiny boots, a tall hat, and store clothes. He is loaded dovra with brass jewelry, NOTEma TO DO. 43 and has more money in Ms pocket than the farm boy ever handled in his life. The first opportunity that boy has, he will run away from this drudgery, attracted by the glamour of trade. This is one view of toil. In spite of this, occupation is a duty. There was not an indolent bone in the Apostolic college, unless it was in Judas. Our Lord selected the rugged trade of a car- penter. Adam was a gardener. Noah was a husband- man. Moses kept sheep. Jacob was on a business journey when God appeared to him at Haran. Elijah was taken from the plow. David acquired the skill to sling a stone through the skull of Goliah hj his prac- tice as a shepherd lad. Eminent men have put the seal of their approval on regular labor. R. G. Shaw was a wealthy mer- chant. At sixty he was as deep in commerce, as when he was earning his fortune. " I shall die," he said, "if I stop." Dr. McKnight had regular employment for thirty years on his commentaries. His friend urged him to do for the Gospels, what he done for the Epistles. He declined, — he had earned rest and meant to take it. In a few months he was a driveling idiot. Isaac Spaulding was asked : ' ' What will you do with your great fortune, as you have neither chick nor child ?" He replied, " If any man takes as much comfort in spending my money, as I have taken in earning it, he will have a good time." Governor Marcy, after forty years of active life, retired to Ball- ston for repose. He could endure toil, but he could not endure inaction. In a short time he was borne to his burial. A Wall street broker made a fortune and con- cluded to retire. He proposed to enjoy himself in his elegant villa on the Hudson, with his books, paintings, and horses. In the autumn, he was back in his old place. He told his story. "At first I was charmed. 44 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. Life was new to me, and the rest was delicious. I drove out daily, saw the trains come and go, and wel- comed my neighbors. I walked over my grounds and planned improvements enough to occupy me a year. In a month I was sick enough. I knew eveiy rod of wall, and every turn in the road ; I fell asleep over my books, and my pictures tired me. I had no gas or water, and my papers came at night, or the next day. Worse than all, the world went on without me, and I was voted an old fogie. No one asked my advice on the market, and no one accepted it when I tendered it. I am back at my post, and propc/se to die with my har- ness on." A well-known New England man attained great success in trade. He retired that he might enjoy the fruits of his labor. He had a city mansion and a country home. He filled his palaces with every luxury. ' ' Whatsoever his eyes desired he kept not from them, and he withheld not his heart from any joy." He had notliing to do, and life became a bur- den which he could not bear. One morning he was found floating in the dock in front of his island home. He had thrown himself into the water. XXI. SHARP PRACTICE. |N the teeth of the experience of six thousand years, men argue that sharp practice in trade is profitable. This popular idea is embraced in certain pithy maxims: "Take care of yourself;" " Keep your eyes peeled ;" "Have your SHARP PRACTICE. 45 eye-teeth cut ;" " Look out for number one ;" "If you buy the devil, you must sell him again.-' With all these tine maxims and this sharp practice, the fact is patent that ninety-flve per cent, of business men fail. Hardly more could go under if all business was trans- acted on honest principles. It was said of a merchant : "A half cent failed him, and he did not know it." He was very sharp, very shrewd, and the odd half cent was always in his favor. People saw through the little trick and waited. When the right time came they took reprisals. A well-known New Yorker was grasp- ing and hard-hearted. He had no compassion for men who met with reverses. When a poor fellow came to him to ask him how he would settle, he would point to the sign over his head, on which was written : ' ' JSTo compromise." Thrusting his thumbs into the arm- holes of his vest, and leaning back in a lordly way, he would add : "There is one way in which I will settle, pay me one hundred cents on the dollar. I can wait." Everybody knew that such a man would ,go down. His failure was terrific. People breathed freer as he went out of sight. A well-known stock operator drove his four-in-hand through the streets at chnrch time to show the people that he neither feared God nor re- garded man. His horses were sold under the hammer for express purposes, and his fine mansion became a club-house. Business men who show such traits have others. These will crystallize- and eventually ruin a man. Willottson began a poor mechanic. He gave of his penury to charitable and religious purposes. To help her husband make a donation to foreign missions, his wife made a few silk buttons that were sold in the New York market. More were called for, a profitable business sprung up, a fortune was made, and Mr. WU- lottson became one of the greatest givers in New Eng- land. 4C 3W0SS8FUL FOLKS. Men neither win nor lose in the same way. One man fails, and is smart ; another wins, and is dull. Some men carry too much sail, some too little. One man ruins his business because he is a sloven ; another ruins his because he is a fop. One man is irreligious and gives offence by his unwise utterances ; another parades his Bible before his customers, and is disagree- able. One man is over-nice and becomes fussy ; an- other steps over a book on the floor instead of picking it up and loses his place. A young man got a position on Saturday night being recommended by his Sunday- school teacher. He lost his pla^e on Monday for being out sailing the day before. A merchant saw a cashier riding on Sunday with a sporting man, and closed his account with the bank the next day. Six janitors of as many cash institutions were out on a "lark" on Sunday. They were all dismissed for a breach of trust. A city bank has a custom of celebrating its annual election. Liquors flow in abundance, and officials, directors and clerks get mellow. Young men who drink in the bank drink outside. Men who drink out- side, will have company. Men who have company must have money. Embezzlements and defalcations follow. More than one official has left this bank under a cloud. WASnmGTON, TEE BOY. 4T XXIT. WASHINGTON, THE BOY. fEORGE WASHINGTON was made of com- mon flesh and blood. He had no advantages over the common ran of American boys. His early life was a rugged one. He had a limited education, and he made up all deficiencies by intense private study. He learned to read out of the Bible and the psalters, his mother being his tutor. He was too poor to pay for private instruction, and there were no free schools in Virginia. He worked through the day, and studied at night by the light of pitch-pine knots. At ten he committed to memory the "Moral Maxims" of Sir Matthew Hale, and these became the guide of his young life. He was head and shoulders above his mates, as in after years he overtopped his peers. If the boys quarreled, George Washington was the judge. When they played soldiers, George Washington was the captain. He took the part of the weak, and one of his earliest exploits was the thrash- ing of a bully who was the terror to the lads. When quite young, he understood that he had got to make his own way in the world. The most that his relatives ever proposed to do for him was to send him to sea, and this they nearly accomplished. When a boy he took to farm life and surveying, and farms are sold to-day on George Washington's survey. At nineteen he sent flour to the Alexandria market. The colonial authorities ordered that the Mt. Vernon brand should pass without inspection, that brand being a guarantee of weight and quality. Washington was an athlete. He could run faster, fling a stone farther, ride better, 48 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. throw a man to the ground harder and quicker than any other person in Virginia. He had a hot and hasty temper, which was under complete control. A prize fighter taunted him with cowardice. Washington seized the blackguard, and hurled him to the ground with such violence as nearly to break every bone in his body. When an old man he threw a stone across the Eappahannock, and hurled an iron bar twenty feet beyond that of a champion who was the boast of the country. XXIII. MILLIONAIRE'S FIRST STEP. lONATHAN STURGBS left his humble home on Cape Cod to earn a living and help his mother. The captain of a coaster gave him a passage, and a letter to a dealer in sail- cloth. Sturges landed in New York on Saturday night, a stranger and penniless. On Sunday morning he looked round for a church. He found the old Wall Street House of Worship, near Broadway. He stood on the steps while the gay throng passed in. He was not fashionably dressed,' and knew it. The grandeur of the place appalled him. Robert Lenox, a promi- nent member of the church, was always on the lookout for young men. He saw the rustic lad, and went up and spoke to him. " Are you a stranger in the city?" "Yes, sir. I arrived last night." "So you came at once to the house of God?" "Yes, sir. My mother told me not to forsake the God of my fathers." " Would you like a seat ?" "I would," and the bash- WEBSTER AS A MOT. 49 ful lad was ushered into Mr. Lenox's own pew. Stnrgess thanked his courteous friend, went back to the vessel, and passed the night. The next morning he sought out the dealer in sail-cloth, and presented his letter. He wanted work and wanted credit for a little canvas. "Did I not see you in Mr. Lenox's pew yesterday ?" said the Scotch merchant. " I don't know whose pew I sat in, sir, but a kind gentleman gave, me a seat." "Well, lad, that was Mr. Lenox, and it is no common honor to be asked to sit in his pew. I will trust any boy with goods who has that honor conferred upon him." To the day of his death Mr. Sturgess said that his success dated from that Sunday. There was no miracle or fanaticism about the matter. Sturgess was at once introduced to valuable business acquaintances. He had credit and standing with the most influential men of the city. He was shielded from bad company and hurtful recreation, and started fairly at once on his career of success. XXIV. WEBSTER AS A BOY. lANIEL WEBSTER boasted that no white man's cabin stood between his father's log hut and the snows of Canada. The boy took his share in the tough, hard work of a fron- tier life, and roughed it with the best. His father was farmer, tavern-keeper and justice. My father trav- eling in New England put up. one night at the tavern kept by Squire Webster. The door of the public room. 4 50 aUOOESSFUL FOLKS. ' was cut in halves. On the lower half the squire wa» leaning, the upper half was thrown back.. Mr. Web- ster shouted, looking towards the barn: "Dan, take this man's horse." A tall, slim, dark-complexioned boy responded to the call. His pants were home-spun, dyed with butternut, and he wore no coat. A straw hat, badly torn, was on his head, and he wore neither shoes nor stockings. He took the horse by the head- stall and put him up in the barn. Daniel learned to read from the Bible and Psalm book. His memory was prodigious. He committed everything he laid his hands on. He had a dispute with Ezekiel about a piece of poetry he learned from an almanac. He got up in the night to verify his quo- tation, and nearly burned the house down. He gave the first quarter he earned to a peddler, and _ obtained a handkerchief, on which was printed the U. S. Consti- tution. He committed the instrument to memory, lying flat on the hearth at night and studying by the light of the fire. He had a great thirst for knowledge. His destination was determined while he was turning hay by the side of his father in the "south hay- field." A man rode up and held a conversation with Mr. Web- ster. When he left the father said: "Dan, that man beat me by a few votes, because he has an education. Had I had learning, i should now have been in his place as a member of Congress. Your mother and I have decided to send you to college. You must then work your own way into Congress." y^EBSTSB ANB EZDZIEL. 51 XXY. WEBSTER AND EZEKIEL. EBSTEE. refused to go to college. It was a boon he desired above all things else.; yet he would not accept it unless Ezekiel could share it. No persuasion could change his resolution. Mrs. Webster cut the " Grordian knot." She said: "Husband, we have but one life to live. Let us mortgage the farm. Send the boys to college, and Daniel and Ezekiel will take care of us when we are old." Through all his preparatory course he took care of his brother. When he kept school his first quarter' s salary was drawn in favor of Ezekiel. His salary was not enough for both, so he supplemented his income by writing up the records of Fryburgh at fifty cents a night. His love was as strong as that which knit David and Jonathan — stronger than the love of woman— which death could not divide. In col- lege Webster was not brilliant. He had no speaking talent and steadfastly refused to declaim. He took no part in the graduating exercises. But he had some traits better than brilliancy. His memory was marvel- ous. He astonished his tutor at a preliminary exami- nation by the offer to commit the whole Latin gram- mar. During his whole educational career he was never late — never out of his place — never absent from the chapel exercises — never had an imperfect lesson, nor a reprimand, and no mark of disapproval ever stood against his name. S3 8U0GE88FUL FOLKS XXYI. WEBSTER CHOOSES A PROFESSION". ANIEL'S father had the New England idea that a boy ought to do something for the support of the family. Daniel was smart and capable, — he had been educated at a great sacrifice, — he ought now to settle down on some- thing that would put money into the family coffers. His father was now a man of consequence, and he ex- , erted his influence to obtain for his son the clerkship of the court. The position was an honorable one, it was for life, and had attached to it the handsome salary of fifteen hundred dollars, — a great sum in those days. The astonishment of the family, and the indignation of the father was great, when the lad an- nounced his purpose to reject the glittering prize. He uttered his intentions in words truly Websterial: "I purpose to be an actor, and not a register of other men's acts." "You are mad, Daniel," said the old man. " The profession of law is now crowded." " There is room enough at the top," said the undaunted boy. "The lad is clean daft," the neighbors said. Study law he would, and he commenced a purpose. He soon learned all that the country lawyers could teach him, and he turned his face towards Boston. Nobody en- couraged him or aided him, but he was a host in him- self. WEBSTER'S AUBAOITT. 68 XXVII. WEBSTER'S AUDACITY. OYERNOR GORE was the leader of the Bos- ton bar. He was aristocratic, distant, and a man with whom few would venture to be familiar. He found in his office one morning a young man waiting for him, who gave the name of Webster. He had no letters of introduction or recom- mendation. He was tall, slim, and spare, with a coun- tenance that entitled him to the sobriquet of Black Dan. His uncle Stark told him that he ought to be a soldier, for gunpowder wouldn' t hurt his complexion. He addressed the genteel advocate with a hearty good morning, announced the name of his father, gave it as his opinion that Governor Gore was one of the Gama- liels of the law, at whose feet he proposed to sit, add- ing, "I have come for work, and not for play." He was not repulsed, and took a seat at an unoccupied desk. He was evidently not welcome — nobody paid him any attention, and alotie and solitary he worked away. One day Rufus King came into the office. He was one of the most eminent men in the State. He noticed the solitary student, and entered into conver- sation with bim. On learning his name, Mr. King reached out his hand, saying : " I' m glad to know you. Your father is an old friend of mine. I am under heavy obligations to him, which I shall be glad to repay to his son. Come and see me, for I can help you." He told young Webster that the profession of law was a noble one, and if he was industrious and resolute he would win. He gave young Webster some excellent advice, and retired. That was a red-letter 54 aUCGESSFUL FOLKS. day in Daniel Webster's history. When Mr. Webster was the foremost man of the nation he said the cheery words of Mr, King had followed him through all his life. xxvin. WEBSTER AT THE BAR. |EBSTER' S elocution was peculiar, his enunci- ation clear and distinct, and he impressed the jury that it must be so, that it could not be otherwise. He was deferential to the court, and courteous to his associates. He dressed his person with as much care as he dressed his thoughts. When he had an important case, he arrayed himself after the manner of George James Fox, — blue coat with brass buttons ; black pants and buflE yest ; a turn-down coUar over a white cravat. He was almost omnipotent with a jury, and his brethren used to say that he ought not to plead against the man tried for his life, for he would be sure to hang him. His point was to win a verdict. If lawful means would not do, sharp practice was resorted to. One day he was pitted against Choate. Choate had mesmerized the court, the jury, and the spectators. Webster knew he could do nothing until he had broken the spell. He arose and denied the testimony on which the whole case turned. Choate was aston- ished, and appealed to the court. The court took no minutes, and Webster knew it. Choate then referred to Mr Webster, but the great advocate did not take WEBSTER AT THE BAR. 55 the evidence. Choate handed to Mr. Webster a large bundle that he called min-u-tes. He wrote on half a sheet of letter-paper on one side, in a hand that was a •cross between Sanscrit and a poor imitation of a China tea-chest. Webster seized the package and im- mediately began to distribute it. "Gentlemen of the , jury, would you like to examine brother Choate' s min- utes ? Would yeur Honor be kind enough to examine this strange medley ?" Before Choate knew what was going on, his notes were scattered beyond recall, amid the roar of the court-room. Holding up one of these «trange-looking sheets, he said: "Gentlemen of the jury, what does this paper look like.? A Christian hand- writing? No. It looks like a small gridiron struck by lightning. You won't take away my client's little property on any such testimony as this !" The jury did not. A crowd was in the court-room one day. An emi- nent Bostonian was on trial for forgery. Webster ■came in and took a seat within the bar. He heard the indictment read, and a part of the government's testi- mony. He walked over to the dock and said to the prisoner: "Retain me." "I cannot, for I have no money." "You need no money. You gave me a thousand dollars when I was in trouble, and that stands to your credit." The trial went on, and the case was turned over to the defense. Webster's practiced ear detected a variation as he sat in the room. He moved that the indictment be quashed. The bill laid the crime in one county, while the proof showed if it was com- mitted at all it was committed in another. ' ' A fatal variation," said Mr. Webster as he sat down, and so the court ruled. The dock flew open and the prisoner, after shaking hands with his astute counsel, walked forth free. Webster came prominently to the front in the great , 56 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. Dartmouth suit. A powerful State was pitted against a poor college. The case was a desperate one, and the- brief was given to Webster because the college was poor. Judge Marshall was on the bench, and the ablest lawyers of the land were opposing counsel. Webster was young, unknown to fame, and had no precedents to guide him. His forlorn case attracted the sympathies of the court as he arose to make his plea. He arose to plead, an unknown barrister. He sat down having placed himself among the foremost forensic advocates of the age, leaving bench and bar in tears. He laid down the principles of law which have guided the courts to this hour; yet the governor of New Hampshire refused to appoint him attorney- general, saying: "Mr. Webster does not know law enough." XXIX. WEBSTER'S MONEY MATTEES. I. WEBSTER was dragged from his law office, where a fortune awaited him, and against his will was sent to Congress. One Saturday he sat in his office, in Boston, and some eminent men called on him and said that he would be elected to Congress next Monday. They promised to take care of his money matters in view of the sacrifices he would make. Had he stuck to the law and let politics alone, he never would have wanted money. His salary never paid his expenses, much less did it sustain the style he was bound to maintain. His devotion to his country embarrassed him, and his ene- WEBSTERS HABITS. 57 mies taunted him with not paying his debts. On© editor was especially insulting. Mr. Webster wrote him a letter : " I do not always pay my debts, because peo- ple do not pay me. If I had been less lenient and more exacting I should have more money. As a proof I enclose you a note for five hundred dollars that I loaned your father to pay for your education." A man held a note against him. Mr. Webster was Secre- tary of State, and the creditor thought he must have a good deal of money. He took a trip to Washington, and when he came back told his friends the note was paid. "I will tell you all about it. I called at Mr. Webster's house; he met me at the door, said I was the son of his oldest and best friend, and asked me to dine with him. We talked about New Hamsphire people, and I never passed so pleasant an evening in my life. Not a word was said about money. I went to my hotel, tucked the note under the grate — satisfied that I had got my money's worth." XXX. WEBSTER'S HABITS. T his great ovation on Boston Common, givea him just before he died, Webster said : "Work has made me what I am. I never ate a bit of idle bread in my life." To an unreasonable teacher, he said : " My industry can make me great ; no punishment can." At sixty, as he looked over the old Fryburgh record, he said: "The ache is not yet out of my fingers." He wrote much, 58 SUCCESaFUL FOLKS. and mainly in the morning. He wrote a small delicate hand, and with difficulty. He was Puritan in taste and religion. His name was on the old Salsbury Church books when he died, where he put it when a young man. He took all his grand Marshfield company on Sunday to a little Orthodox church that he attended. He was an attentive and considerate hearer, always thanked the minister for his sermon, and sent him presents fi'om his table. He left the Brattle Square Church, when Palfrey preached, because the preaching was like throwing shot on shingles. He declined to discuss the Trinity with a politician, saying : ' ' You and I know very little about the mathematics of Heaven." To Dr. Codman he said: "You will find me no half-day hearer on Sunday." He summed up his faith on his dying couch, by saying: "Heavenly Father, forgive my sins, and welcome me to Thyself, through Jesus €hrist." XXXI. FORCES THAT WIN. |EN of mark have few advantages over others. Successful men seldom follow the trade of their sires. It is seldom wise for a man to preach because his father is a minister, or to be a lawyer because his father is eminent at the bar, or to take a diploma as a doctor because his father is a surgeon. If a boy has no taste for the profession of his father, and declines to follow it, his very independ- ence augurs success. The history of business men FORCES TEAT WIN. , 59 sliows liow little they are Indebted to their relatives for their eminence. Shakspeare was the son of a butcher. The father of Florence, the painter, was a ■custom-house officer. Grray, the poet, was brought up as a notary. Beattie worked on a farm. Tom Moore was apprenticed to a grocer. Rembrandt worked in a mill, the sides of which he covered with etchings and ■drawings. Whitfield displayed his marvelous oratory while dealing out beer for his father' s customers. B an- yan was brought up in a tavern, a profane and ungodly youth. Massilon was the son of a turner. The father of Romilly the great lawyer, was a watchmaker. Ben Jonson was the son of a stone-mason. Men win who leave their trademakk on their call- ing. The great mass of men are common men. People are content to be third or second class. They drift down the current and pass out of sight, and al'e re- membered no more. Out of the thousands of lawyers in America, a dozen alone are competent to try an important case. Not ten names in ten thousand spring to the lip as presidential candidates. Were the office of chief justice vacant, not five names in five hundred would in the popular judgment be connected with the vacant seat. Theological schools turn out men in shoals, as uniform as bullets run in the same mould, or peas in the same pod. Star preachers are as rare as comets. One or two in London, one or two in America — that's all. Few are happy in their work. Each man knows where the harness chafes. The great mass of business men wish they had some other trade. Stewart, worth forty millions, thought if he had been a real estate trader he would have made money. Men of Fame are usually men of excellence in some particular thing. Drew was a financier when he 60 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. was a cattle-driver. Vanderbilt led all the boatmen on Staten Island. Lincoln was head and shoulders above the Mississippi raftsmen when he was a boy. Nine- tenths of Power's statuary can be chiseled by an ordin- ary stone-cutter. The other tenth gives the statue its value. A pious but inefficient man will fail. Men must have grit as well as gTace to succeed. Often men become a success by changing their callings. Ministers fail in the pulpit and make a success at teaching. Poor sticks in the law often turn out efficient railroad men. Grerard was an ordinary coasting captain at forty and died a first-class banker. Walter Scott did nothing till he was past middle life. Lamphire, who founded the Pulton street prayer-meeting, and whose name is known in all parts of the world, failed in everything he undertook till he was nearly fifty. Dr. Alexander and Dr. Kirke were friends in college. They were fast boys ; Alexander was great at billiards, and Kirke was a tippler. Had they kept on they would have both been vagrants. Dr. Carey when a boy was very plucky. In attempting to climb an apple tree he fell and broke his leg. The first thing he did when he got out was to climb that tree. The key-note of his life was to over- come difficulties, and he became the great missionary of the age. LoKD Eldow, a poor lawyer, was regarded as a plodding advocate. He asked of the Premier a small office. He received the gruff reply: "I will not give you an office, Eldon. You are indolent, and will not work if you can help it ; you must dig for yourself." Long afterward, when plain John Scott wrote himself Lord Eldon, he told his friends : " Had I gone into the custom-house I should never have been Lord Chan- cellor.'' FORCES THAT WIN. 61 LoED Thurlow was proud of his early poverty and obscurity. WLen Chancellor of Britain a flatterer said to him : ' ' You descended from Thurlow who was secretary to Cromwell." "No sir. No sir. There were two Thurlows. One was secretary. One was a carter. I descended from the carter." Dunning, the great advocate, tells his own story : " I selected the law with small hope of success. 1 had no patron, no friend, no money. I worked like a galley slave. I ate at a cheap tavern at seven pence a day. I slept on the bunks at night. I kept up my studies as if I was in full practice. I read everything, copied everything, and attended all the great trials. I was ready for the first brief that came into my hand." Wambell, the great painter, was distinguished for Ms generosity. He took down his own picture at the academy, and put in its place the painting of a promis- ing young artist who had offended the management. A young painter struggled a year for a prize. His picture was hung by the side of Wambell' s, and its merits were hid by the extraordinary brilliancy of the great artist's picture. Wambell passed a night in blackening the sky, and dimming the beauty of his own work, to give the young man a chance. Deteemination is often a good business capital. A box of piUs, a little ointment, a plaster, or a lotion, is as good a capital to start with, as bonds, stocks or real estate. A bottle of blacking and elbow-grease has made the fortune of more than one man. Holloway had a pill, and he told all the world what it was worth. He put it in the London exhibition, spent a hundred thousand dollars to advertise it, and made a fortune. Schenck fretted the world with his mandrake pills. 63 8U00E8SFUL FOLKS. Sea- weed tonio, balm of Gilead, and kindred medicines are known wherever the English language is spoken. The well-known preacher had a knack of turning his hand at anything. He shod his ow^ horse one day in the absence of the blacksmith. As he was winding up his work, the smith arrived. He looked at the job, and said : " Young man, follow horse-shoeing and you will make your fortune." De. Jaynes was a quack when quackery was a stain. He was read out of the medical society — threw himself on the public— flung away a fortune in adver- tising, and became a millionaire. A young man stood by the side of a farmer and asked the man for his daughter in marriage. All the while the young man ^was whittling vigorously at a stick, and shaped out of it a very respectable fork. " You may have the girl," the old said, "because you have made something out of your whittling." There is a spool of thread that leads the market, a style of needle that no lady will be without, a stove polish and baking powder that Bridget demands. XXXII. START OF SOME FOLKS. IE JOSHUA EEYNOLDS when a young man resolved to found a school of his own. Hudson, who taught him to paint, aided him to visit Rome. On his return he set up his easel in Martin's lane, and alarmed the profession 8TABT OF SOME FO^KS. 65 by Ms heresy. His friends crowded his studio, ex- claiming : "You are ruined — this will never do. You. don't paint as well as when you left England." Rey- nolds was unmoved, kept steadily on his course, and put himself at the head of the profession. HoGAETH was a poor man's son. He sketched al- most from his cradle. He sketched with charcoal on barn-doors, fences, and sides of the wagon, inimitable caricatiTres. He formed a run-away match with Sir James Thornhill's daughter; he was turned out of doors and left to starve. Sir James saw on his break- fast table one morning some etchings of a very re- markable character. He found in the artist the person of his poor son-in-law. He was so struck with his- genius that he forgave him on the spot. An accident made Wilson a great landscape painter. While in Rome he was sent on an errand to the studio of an artist. Waiting for the painter, to be- guile the time, he sketched on a rough piece of paper the scene he saw through the window. The painter entered and caught him at his work. "Have you studied landscape painting, young man?" "No sir." "Then I advise you to begin ; you are sure to succeed." And he did. No punishment could keep. Gainsborough at his- studies in school. He was fascinated with the beautiful woods of Suffolk. He played truant that he might- ramble in the groves, and forged notes of excuse to get. a holiday that he might pass the day in sketching. Benjamin West had a romantic career. His parents were Quakers, and pictures and paintings were denied him. It is said he never looked upon a paint- ing or an engraving till he drew the picture of his i^i U 8UGGESSFUL FOLKS. little sister in the cradle. The prejudice of his parents against the trifling art was unyielding. He drew from his infancy. A band of wandering Indians taught him to mix rude colors. A favorite cat furnishe'd him with pencils, and soot from the chimney was his earliest paint. No censure and no frowns from the Meeting or ■ the family deterred him. The lad seemed to act under a kind of inspiration. The elders were afraid to op- pose the boy. A public meeting was called to see what should be done with the strange child. The result of the meeting is thus given. " To John West and Sarah Pierson, a man-child has been born, on whom God has conferred some remarkable gifts ; something amounting to inspiration ; and the youth has been induced to study painting. Such rare gifts cannot but be for a wise and good purpose. The *Divine ■ Hand is in this. We shall do well to encour- age this youth." The scene that followed this de- claration was an extraordinary one, and its influence followed West through all his life. The lad was called in to the Meeting. His mother stood on one side, his father on the other. The society surrounded the three. The famous John Williamson spoke for the community : "This genius is given by God for some high purpose. He hath in this remote wilder- ness endowed with the rich gifts of a superior spirit this youth. He hath our consent to cultivate his talents for art." The Quaker women kissed the young artist as they passed round. The Quaker men placed their hands in benediction on his young head, and thus, by the holiest of ordinations, he was set apart a painter. . WooLCOT, better known as Peter Pindar, was a physician at Truro. He took a boy into his service to run errands, clean knifes, and do the drudgery of the START OF SOME FOLKS. 65 office. He was sent daily to the butcher's for dog's meat, and took more time than the vigilant doctor thought needful. He went after the drudge and ■caught him painting the butcher's portrait. Woolcot, instead of caning the boy, expressed his delight at the picture, and ordered him to paint a portrait of himself. He was even more successful with the doctor's than with the butcher' s. He advised the boy to study paint- ing, gave him means to become an artist, and aided materially in placing the name Opie among the great painters of England. Barry, the painter, was an Irishman, friendless and nearly destitute. He worked years in obscurity, and ^t last obtained assistance to place a painting, on ex- hibition. The picture was founded on an old tradition of the baptism of King Cashell. The "work was uni- versally admired, and a demand made for the author. He came foward, so poorly clad and forlorn in look that his claim was derided. To hide his emotions, he attempted to leave the room. Burke arrested him, in- quired into his situation, furnished him money to visit Kome, and thus laid the foundation for his great reputation. Wedgewood, the son of a potter, was destined to the ragged trade of his father. He was lame, and at best could only be a thrower of clay. He lost his leg, and with it his rough employment. He was a resolute lad, and resolved in some way to earn his bread. He turned his studies to some practical account. He pos- sessed the gift of imitation, and turned rough clay into the resemblance of agate and jasper. He studied chemistry, and by its aid he produced metallic clay that made elegant knife-handles, boxes, and mantel ornaments. He invented the yellow ware known as 5 66 8UG0E88FUL FOLKS. Queen's ware, wHch became the rage. Queen Char- lotte patronized him, and permitted him to write over Ms factory the cabalistic words, "Potter to her Maj- esty." Court favors did not turn his head. He kept perseveringly and persistently at work. He discovered and purchased a bed of porcelain clay in Cornwall, out of which he made the finest china ware. He imitated cameos, antique vases, and other works of art, and be- came the most famous man, in his line, in the world. A poor lad, a cripple, without education, money, or friends, turned his very misfortunes into elements of success, and by industry, integrity, and genius, placed his name among the most honored of his nation. A Young Mechanic passed to his work daily over London Bridge. Occasionally he tossed a penny to a beggar who held his seat towards the end of the bridge in sunshine and in storm. One day the mendicant stopped the mechanic, and said to him: "I'm going- into the country. You have been kiiid to me, and I want to make you a present. There is a fortune in this, little piece of paper. I am an old Waterloo soldier, and I got the paper in the army. Follow the instruc- tions faithfully, and yoii will be rich." That paper was the original receipt for Day & Martin' s blacking. YoxjNG Richardson, of the house of Reynolds & Co., has proved himself one of our most prosperous young business men. Besides possessing very rare business qualities as a salesman, he has certain traits that make him of great value to any paint house. He is a superb judge of colors. He has a sort of intuition in deciding on the purity of lead before it is mixed. This talent, with rare capacity, forecasted his success from the start. Burns, in the blackest hour of his ob- scurity and poverty, caught a glimpse of coming START OF 80MB FOLKS. 67 honor. He said, "I shall be eminent as Thomas a Kempis or John Banyan. My birthday shall be in- scribed in the Aberdeen Almanac, with Black Monday and the Battle of Both well's Bridge." STEPHENSOTiT, — " Uncle John," as he is called, — is the great car-builder of the world. He was a wagon- maker, and located his shop near the omnibus stables, when this method of locomotion was new. Stephen- son thought he could make an omnibus as well as a wagon. When the street cars were introduced, the Harlem road gave the young mechanic the job to make street cars. He worked till he got the monopoly of the business, building a better car at a lower price than any other maker. London and Liverpool can get better and cheaper cars in New. York than at home. Stephenson's cars are running to-day in St. Petersburg and Berlin ; in Austria and Australia ; in London and Bombay ; in Canada and South America. The most popular restaurant in Paris is that of DuvALS. He was a butcher, and quite a genius in his line. He proposed a restaurant near the Tuilleries. He fitted up an eating house in elegapt style, and adorned the rooms with mirrors, paintings, and fres- coes. First- class viands are offered at a low cost. The principle has earned a fortune for the proprietor. De. S. I. Peime has made a fortune out of The Observer and Harpefs " Drawer." He adroitly created a local interest for the "Drawer" in a hun- dred towns. He located the old jokes, puns, proverbs, Joe Millers, and old saws in Wisconsin, Illinois, Maine and Missouri. Like a thief back from transportation these old puns wore a new dress but had the same old face. They answered their end and mads a very read- able monthly column. 68 SUCCESaFUL ' FOLKS. Ubtcle Tum's Cabin was begun in Mrs. Stowe's kitchen when the. authoress was poor enough. The closing pages were written in the publisher's store in Boston. It was a biting eold morning. Her calico dress was not worth sixpence a yard ; her straw hat and trimmings would have been dear at fifty cents. She stood a half hour over the stove before she was limber enough to work. She was writing for bread. In three months it gave her a check for ten thousand dollars. One of my Schoolmates was a rich man's son. He had more pocket-money in a week than I ever handled in my life. He had every conceivable luxury. Penknives, jewelry, gold watch and diamonds. He is now a conductor on one of the street cars in New York. A young man proposed to give up business. He asked his landlord to take the lease off his hands. " I have lost my money and I am going elsewhere." " When I lose my money I look for ifnvhere I lost it," the land- lord quietly replied. The young man took the hint and became rich. DoEE was wayward and indolent as a boy. He would not paint, but roamed through the hospitals watching the sick and dying. To the disgust of his friends, instead of studying painting, he studied anat- omy. When he became eminent it was found that he was studying when people thought he was idling. He studied anatomy that he might be perfect in his know- ledge of the human form. He studied faces flushed with despair, revenge, remorse andecstacy, and so made himself the great master of human passions that he is. y \ CORNELIUS VANDERBILT Enj^tivt-d !,y-AH Hitclile VANBEBBILT'a BOTHOOB. 69 XXXIII. VANDERBILT'S BOYHOOD. ANDERBILT at eighty was a match for the whole street. He dressed like a college pro- fessor, or a well-endowed clergyman, whose salary was promptly paid. His necktie was snowy, like his hair. He was tall, slim and as finely- proportioned as a Mohawk warrior. He . lived in a down-town mansion, roomy and full of comfort, after the order of the old Knickerbockers. His style of busi- ness was peculiar. He opened his letters, dictated his answers on the margin, spent an hour in regulating affairs that required a million to move them, and then turned to his stables. His office was a plain unpre- tending room, and his style of life very simple. No hot rebellious liquors consumed his blood. His meals were light and frugal. A man worth eighty millions can go to bed when he chooses. No matter who was present, when bed-time came he took his candle and bade the company good-night. He was an attentive listener to a man who had anything to say. He usually stood with his hands in his pockets when one was talk- ing to him, or if he sat, one foot rested on a table, and a nervous twitch indicated when he was annoyed. He had a knack of bowing people out when he was through with them. As a lad he was athletic, energetic and daring. He could row farther and jow better than any boy in the State. If any extraordinary thing was to be done by the boatmen, " Cornele " was expected to do it. , Crowds watched him from Battery, as he rowed in a gale through Buttermilk channel, to put six men on a 70 .SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. ship. In a terrific snow-storm a boat was lost. " Cor- nele" started out alone, and guided the bewildered rowers to the shore. A violent gale raged, during which a ship went ashore on the Hook. The under- writers spent three days in the vain effort to find some one who would go down to the vessel. On third day a bulletin was nailed on the Battery, announcing that "Cornele" Vanderbilt would start for the Hook at twelve noon. A banker called for him. A young fel- low bronzed by the sea, his pants in his boots, coat off, collar thrown back and no cravat, with a face indicat- ing daring and strength, responded. "Do you think you can reach the Hook, young man ?" "I will never come back unless I do." " Our bank has forty thou- sand dollars on board that ship. Bring it up. We'll pay you well for it." At midnight the cashier was aroused from his slumber, and the money was safe in the bank vault. The young boatman got fifteen hun- dred dollars for his night's work. He said afterward : " If I had known as much as I know now, I would have half of that forty thousand dollars as salvage." XXXIV. VANDERBILT' S GRIT. T is a common belief that when the Gen. Jackson blew up on the North River Van- derbilt jumped ashore exclaiming : "Wasn't I a lucky dog?" I heard Vanderbilt deny that he uttered those words, and in addition he said : VANDBBBILT'S GlilT. n ■"he was not in command of the Jackson at the time." Tet lucky he was. He had the luck that attends a brave, resolute man, who is on the outlook for oppor- tunities. A man was detained at Staten Island by a storm. He offered a handsome sum to any one who would row him to the city. The boatmen shook their heads and declined the hazardous service. "Cornele Vanderbilt can row you if any one can. Yoii' II find him at the store." Negotiations were opened after this manner : "I want to go to New York." " Why don't you go, if you want to?" "Can you row me to the have got out of his troubles by sinking a hundred thoasand dollars, and he would have had a fortune then. He hung on till he was utterly ruined, and he learned to his sorrow that there were no friendships in trade. Men throw on the market an article that becomes popular. Success turns their heads. If it is food, they adulterate it ; if it is cloth, they reduce the quality. In other words, they do not keep up the stroke. A celebrated band began to grow into disfavor. The leader was tired, disliked his uniform, hated to parade. A merchant inherited the name and fortune of an eminent house. He reversed the rules by which a for- tune was made. He sunk the house in seven years in disgrace, and fled the country to avoid punishment. 'Tis the common remark, that men who trade in adulterated goods are seldom a success. The busi- ness of adulterating food is very largely " carried on in a great city. Mustard is made of yellow ochre, poor pepper, and terra-alba. The pepper of commerce is made of maggotty hard-tack and bad crackers, brought home from a long, long voyage. While this style of business invariably leads to ruin, the old spice house in Dutch street has never made nor sold an ounce of impure spice, and has made the fortune of two or three generations. All boatmen know the value of keeping up the stroke. Repute is nothing. Practice is nothing. But a long, steady, con- tinuous stroke, does the work. It is the same in trade. No past popularity, no fame earned by a lifetime wUl avail, if men do not keep to the front, and keep up the stroke. 80 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. xxxvin. DARLING KEEPS A HOTEL. LPRED B. DARLING began his hotel Kfe in the Broomfield House, Boston, kept by Selden Crockett. He was a hall -boy at twelve dollars a month. Crockett took a great interest in the capable and ambitious lad. Crockett said to him, "Alfred, if you will get up early I'll take you to market and show you how to buy." He outran his teacher, and the market men said: ' ' You had better stay at home, Crockett ; the boy can buy better than you can." Stevens wanted an assis- tant, and Crockett recommended Darling. He sjDent a summer at Newport. He became a clerk at -the Ge- rard House, Philadelphia, and everywhere showed great capacity for hotel life. In 1858, Stevens sent Darling to Mobile to take charge of the Mobile House. The salary was thirty -five hundred dollars a year, and a small interest in the business.- The house was filled with planters and their families, who demanded sumptuous fare and expensive wines. The business was a great success. Every night Darling telegraphed to Stevens the profit and loss of the day. Darling saw the storm-cloud at the South ; sold everything, and started for the North. His golden, cargo entered the Narrows as the hurricane burst over the land. There was room for him at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. He soon became a proprietor, and the firm divided in one year, as profits, four hundred and forty thousand dollars. PAMAir STEVENS. 81 XXXIX. PARAN STEVENS. TEVENS began life as a stable-boy in Ver- mont. When quite a young man he went to Boston and kept a small stage tavern. The Revere House vras offered at a low rent, without takers, in 1847. Men said there was no money in it ; 'twas too stylish for Boston, and would ruin any man who attempted to run it. Stevens took the lease and opened the Revere at an auspicious time. The water was introduced and the city was thronged ; every hotel was full, and the Revere House had its share. The rooms were elegant, the table sumptuous, the price reasonable, and the multitude spread the fame of the Revere all over the land. Stevens made the house what it has been ever since — the foremost hotel in Boston. The Fifth Avenue Hotel was unfinished, boarded up, wore the look of general dilapidation, and was known as "Eno's Folly." Stevens, in 1859, took a lease of the hotel and obligated himself to finish and open it in a given time. Stevens, as he rode up and down in the omnibus, had the benefit of the popular opinion: "That fellow is a fool; he'll soon come to grief;" "I'll give him ninety days to fail in ; " "He might as well open a hotel at Sandy Hook." The hotel was finished, was opened, and became an immediate suc- cess. Stevens said to me one day: " It has been my ambition to do everything better than anybody else. I groomed my horses well when I was a stable-boy, and many a dollar has found its way into my pocket from gratified owners. I have alwayg attended personally 6 83 8UG0ESSFUL FOLKS. to my own business. I have never trusted any one when it has been my duty to look after the thing my- self. I kept out of debt, and neither drank nor gambled. I never owed a dollar in my life that I could not pay on time. In my hotel I bought low and close, and gave the customers the benefit of my bargains. Cream is as cheap as milk, and I always bought the best. I gave my guests their money's worth, and gave them; whatever they wanted." XL. HE WILL WIN. |W0 engineers were in a depot. One of thera was a merry fellow, smoking and laughing with the crowd. He was a good hand as engineers go, ran a freight engine and di- vided his work with the fireman. The other engineer was burnishing his engine with some cotton stuff. He was well-educated and smart, evidently muscular, though slim and somewhat frail. He asked for the position of brakeman. The superintendent told him that he wouldn't like the business, it was rough, dirty and dangerous. He was not stout enough — the first time he attempted to "down brakes," he would be thrown off from the platform. The young man thought otherwise, and pressed his request for the position. He soon knew how to make up the train. He then ran an engine on short routes, doing everything skillfully and everything weU. He was always at work, oiling. ACCIDENTAL SUCCESS. 83 polishing, tightening the screws and keeping his engine in order. The superintendent asked him one day if he purposed to spend his days as an engineer ? He an- swered, ' ' No sir. I purpose to be a superintendent and know everything from the driving of a spike to the opening of a throttle-valve." XLI. ACCIDENTAL SUCCESS. |UCCESS, like greatness, is thrust on one man ; it comes not at the earnest wooing of another. Inventions that have changed the world and made the fortune of thousands, were purely accidental. A spark of a candle on chemicals gave us gunpowder. Groodyear's neglected skillett, heated red hot, gave us vulcanized rubber. The casual rubbing of a piece of glass revealed elec- tricity. The skin of a frog suggested Galvanism. The vibration of a chandelier at Florence taught Q-alileo the uses of the pendulum. Bits of glass put together to amuse children originated the telescope. The ac- cidental putting of a tube over a lamp gave us the argand burner. What men call accident is often the fruit of years of careful study, patient endurance and devotion. The Duke of Wellington through all his military studies was mindful of little things. He was laughed at when a cadet for his fussiness. His victories in after-life were mainly attributable to that trait in his character. He never went into battle 84 SU00E8SFUL FOLKS. without looking after the knapsacks of his men, saw that every buckle was in place, and that the linch-pins were right. After a victory he expected a surprise, was always prepared for it, and never caught napping. The night before the battle of Waterloo he was at a ball. No one saw signs of that fatal conflict. Before he laid his head on his pillow at night, he was ready for the storm of battle that beat upon him so fiercely the next morning. The fall of an apple was sufficient to reveal to Newton the law of gravitation. The fall of a pumpkin would suggest to some men nothing but a poultice. A kite string gave us practical electricity ; but years of hard study prepared Franklin for his great discovery. The fleet with which Perry drove the British from the great lakes was a forest when war tvas declared. The sailors felled the trees, hewed the timbers, laid the keels, finished and manned the skips, and hauled to the mast-head the famous motto : " We have met the enemy and he is ours." An EMINENT English lawyer studied years to gain a position at the bar. He had little success. He rode several circuits without a brief. A friend gave him a case because it was hopeless. There was an immense amount of property in the suit, and the whole depended on the date of a borough which could not be found. The young lawyer went to work as if his life reputation depended upon winning. He remembered that it was the custom of .Sir Christopher Wren to place the date of his churches on the key-stone. This borough had in it one of Wren's churches. All efforts to find the date were in vain. The young counselor had an im- pression that the date must be behind the command- ments and the creed. He bribed the sexton, worked nights, chipped away the plaster, found the date, won. ACCIDENTAL SUCOESB. 85 and worked his way up to the woolsack. He used to humorously say that his success began with the break- ing of all the commandments on one night. Waohtel, the great singer, was clerk in a mercan- tile house. He was exact in small things ; whatever he undertook he did well. He was a superb rider, and was very popular as a tenor singer. A nobleman who was attracted by his voice and horsemanship, invited him to a soiree. He modestly declined to sing in a quartette, because he was not in practice, though he could sing better than any one in the room. The nobleman was pleased with his diffidence, knew that he had in him the elements of a great singer, furnished funds to send him to Rome, that he might enjoy a first-class education. He devoted himself exclusively to study, avoided all society, worked more hours than a porter, and refused all offers to sing in society, until the masters pro- nounced him the most finished tenor in Europe. The very famous Mrs. Howard worked her way up into society. She resolved to shine at court. She had neither patron nor friend. Her education had been sadly neglected. She had talent, resolution, and au- dacity. The few that knew her, jDraised her fine black tresses. These she cut off, partly to keep herself out of society, and partly to obtain funds to employ a teacher. In the solitude of her garret she made her- self one of the most brilliant and fascinating women of her age. Her indomitable energy and pluck secured for her the position she coveted. Lady Walpole was in disgrace at court. The new Queen was to receive, and all unbidden, her ladyship pressed her way to the Presence Chamber. She 86 SUGOESSt'UL FOLKS. elbowed her passage through the crowd amid the Jeers and scoffs of the courtiers. An accidental surging of the crowd pushed Lady Walpole to the very footstool. The Queen ordered her to advance, tendered her her hand for a salute, and ordered her to take her place among the nobles that surrounded her. The lady said: — "When I came away, had I wished, I could have walked over the heads of the fools." Gov. Clive, as a boy, was wild and reckless. No- body could control or tame him. He was the terror of the shop-keepers of the town. Marching at the head of vagrant lads, he exacted tribute from everyone. Be- fore he was ten years of age he climbed the tall steeple of the Marnette Church. Hie father regarded him as a vagrant, and shipped him off, to die of the fever in Madras. He exchanged bis pen for a sword, became the great statesman and captain, and saved to the British their possessions in India. Long after the English nation were wild with enthusiasm over his name, his father — father-like — refused to believe that "Bob Clive" would ever come to anything but a gibbet. Lord Melbour^ste was opposed a member of the Cabinet because he lacked nerve and was a dandy, He lacked decision, and was not fit to receive a port- folio. In spite of his unpopularity he became a secre- tary. A mob one hundred thousand strong came to his office to present a petition. There was an ominous threat in the number. The secretary opened the win- dow, looked down on the seething crowd, and said in a clear strong voice, without a quiver in it, " There are too many of you." He closed the window and re- tired. That settled the question of courage. The mob, ACCIDENTAL SUCCESS. S7 staggered by tlie boldness and audacity of the act, re- tired. Sir Astlet Cooper was born a surgeon. When a lad he picked up a boy by the wayside who had fallen from a cart, and seemed likely to bleed to death, and staunched and bound up the wound in so artistic a manner as to command the approval of the first sur- geons of the age. He was apprenticed to an apothe- cary and soon mastered the business. He was distin- guished for independence and boldness, and never shrank from any case oifered to him. George IV. had a tumor and the London surgeons were afraid to touch the king. Sir Astley was sent for. He looked on the king and said : "I shall hack and cut your majesty as if you were a plowman." His benevolence was equal to his courage. No poor person was ever turned from his door without assistance. In the mountains of Bis- cay the wild followers of Don Carlos allowed a party to pass without molestation when they exhibited the sig- nature of Sir Astley Cooper. The fame of Kirke White as a poet rests on a single hymn. He was jeered at by critics as a maker of poor verses. His critics are dead and forgotten. White immortalized himself by his hymn : "When marshalled on the Nightly Plain," written on a boat, by the light of a dim lantern, on a dark and stormy night, as the poet was rowed along the cost from head- land to headland. Chantbet was a stone-mason. He had a taste for chiseling, and his early efforts were rude enough. His ambition to be an artist excited general ridicule. He worked in poverty and neglect for many years, was utterly friendless, and nearly starved. He accidentally 88 8U00E88FUL FOLKS. formed tlie acquaintance of Rogers, the poet. The banker poet lived in too grand style to cultivate very intimately the acquaintance of a struggling sculptor. One night Rogers was called to his door ; Chantrey stood there with a chest of drawers on his back, which he had made. " You must bay this," the sculptor said, " or I shall starve." Rogers helped Chantrey ta introduce a bust into the Academy. Chantrey was still a stone-mason in the estimation of artists, and his work was put in a mean place. NoUekins stood at the head of his profession at that time. He came into the Academy one day, and as his manner w^s, he looked this way and looked that. His eye fell on Chantrey'* bust. He exclaimed: "That's fine; the maker must be known. Remove one of my busts and put this in its place ; it well deserves it." That kindly act gave Chantrey his position. Scott was unknown to fame until he was over forty. He wrote Waverley in 1806. The critics con- demned it, and he threw the manuscript into a rubbish drawer, where it reposed seven years. Searching for fishing tackle, Scott unearthed the story. The critics still condemned it, and it slumbered on till 1816, when its publication astonished the world. Db. Pexee Pakkee, when quite a youth, deVoted himself to the missionary cause, and selected China as his field of labor. To make himself useful he studied both theology and medicine. The doctors refused to license him because he was too much of a minister-; the ministers refused to license him because he was too- much of a doctor. He was very resolute and persist- ent. He finally obtained his diploma as a doctor and a preacher. His medical knowledge gave him access to the people, and his skill in the treatment of the eye, ACCIDENTAL SUCCESS. 8& opened for Mm the imperial palace. He proved one of the most influential missionaries the American Board ever sent into the field. Judge Bradley, — still called by the Schoharie boys. "Jo Bradley," — of the U. S. supreme court, was born in Schoharie county. His father was a charcoal-burner, and the boy was intended for the same rugged calling. Without help or friends the boy undertook to educate himself ; by the glaring light of the coal-pits he fitted himself for college, fought his way through, and earned the eminent rank he now holds. Turner, the eminent artist, was the son of a barber,, whose specialty was a "penny a shave." The boy had a natural taste for colors. His earliest efforts with very rude tools was drawing the emblazoned arms on a lordly mansion. A gentleman sitting in his father' & shop was struck with his genius, and presented him with a box of paints. He worked steadily and alone in his father's garret. A painter offered him six cents- a night for washing in India ink. He thankfully ac- cepted the offer. The result of that engagement fol- lowed him through life. His own words are: "I learned to earn guineas by that midnight toil. I never slobbered over my work because I was ill-paid. When 1 worked at all I worked well. I was not toiling for a living when I got six cents a night ; I was learn- ing to be an artist. ' ' The softness that marked Turner' & work, which was the envy of artists, was acquired by those nights of drudgery. Bishop Whipple, of Minnesota, was an accidental bishop. He was assigned to a mission field in Chicago, with no more prospect of being an American bishop than he had of being elevated to the arch- «0 • SU0CES8FUL FOLKS. bishop's chair in Canterbury. He was an intense worker with a marvelous amount of magnetism. He was a sort of Peter the Hermit among the lowly, and had the faculty of filling every thing he preached in. A convention was called to elect a missionary bishop. Dr. Tucker, of Troy, and Dr. Patterson, of Chicago, were prominent candidates. After several ballots, the convention was a tie. A solitary vote was cast every time for a Rev. Mr. Whipple. The vote was traced to Dr. Patterson. This vote was thrown, not to elect Whipple, but to defeat Tucker. The con- vention called on Dr. Patterson to give some account ■of his candidate. He did so, and the statement was so favorable that Mr. Whipple was elected on the next ballot, to the surprise of every one. Bishop Whipple proved himself equal to the honors conferred upon him. Patriarchal in look, long hair prematurely gray, head and shoulders above most men, he is a man of indomitable force and rare executive ability. His diocese is a feeble one ; but he entered it as a farmer enters a tough field — to subdue it. He can turn his hand to anything — beg and collect donations, cut out •clothing for his assistants, and is equally at home in a miner's tent or a mud hovel, comforting the emigrants, or thrilling an audience in a cathedral. De. Peideatjx was the great scholar of his age. He proposed to educate himself. He walked from his own cabin to Oxford, a distance of two hundred miles, with his bundle slung over his shoulder. During his long tramp he lived on bread and water, and slept in barns and under the hedges. He entered college as a menial ; scoured pots and pans and did the dirty ^york of the kitchen. While he was engaged in this drudg- ■ery, his book was always open before him, and he kept at the head of his class. His gentle spirit and faithful- ACCIDENTAL SUCCESS. 91 ness won him tlie love and esteem of all. He sought the position of parish clerk, and was greatly mortified when it was given to another. In after years he was used to say :— " Had I won the clerkship of Ugborough I never should have been Bishop of Worcester." He entered Oxford as a "poor scholar," and graduated with distiuguished honors. A Young Maw worked in the Swamp in New York. The church of which he was a member proposed to remove a debt, and his name was put down for twenty- five dollars. He was not worth that sum, but was ashamed to make his poverty known. At the close of his day's work he went on to the dock to think matters over. He saw a musk rat. He shied a stone at it and killed it. He took off the skin, and half in banter, half in earnest, showed it to a furrier who was a friend of his. He learned that the skin of muskrats had a market value. He saw a business opened before him which he immediately took in hand. He prospered in it, and was able to make his church a centennary offer- ing of fifty thousand dollars. A Farmer's son got a place in a mercantile house. His clothes were home-spun and his boots country- made. The boys made fun of him, and he begged his father to give him a better suit. "My son," said the father, "if you want better clothes, earn them." The lad became a merchant, and died the other day, leaving a fortune of half a million. Stephen Gerard helped those who helped them- selves. On his way to the bank he was attracted by a young bricklayer who attended strictly to his work. After the business was completed the young man called at the bank and asked Mr. Grerard for work. The 93 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. banker ordered him to wheel a pile of stones from one end of the yard to the other ; he came for his pay. ' ' How much ? " " One dollar, sir. " " That' s honest ; you take no advantage ; come to-morrow." For one full week those stones were wheeled from one end of the garden to the other. On Saturday the mechanic was called into the bank. Gerard said : "I like you ; you shall be my man ; you mind your own business ; you do whatever I tell you ; y6u ask no questions ; got a wife i" "Yes, sir." " Any little chicks ? " "Five." " Here are are five pieces of money for your five little chicks. You shall never want work any more." Judge Sewakd ^ave William a thousand dollars, sent him to college, and told him he must graduate on that. He came home at the end of the Freshman year, out of pocket, and with habits more ornamental than useful. As the vacation neared its close the judge told his son it was time to return to college. The young man informed his father that he had no money. " You've got all that I can give you," said the father. "You can't stay around here. You must work your own way through." The young man went on his way, graduated at the head of his class, became eminent in law, filled the office of Governor and Senator, and became the most famous Secretary of State since the days of Madison. PROVERBS OF TRADE. 93 XLII. PROVERBS OF TRADE. RO VERBS hold tlie wisdom of nations, Substantially they are the same in all ages. The aphoristic sayings of Solomon are re- peated in Egypt, Arabia, Hindostan, and the Islands of the Sea. They commend Honor, Justice, Industry, Integrity and Virtue. Whatever the life of a nation may be, its proverbs are right. Proverbial sayings are the common coin of the world, and pass from one generation to anotner. The tomes of the learned perish, but the pithy utterances are immortal. "Shoot him on the spot." "England expects every man to do his duty." "Don't give up the ship." '' We've met the enemy and he is ours." " The King never dies," — with other aphoristic sayings will live while history endures. Out of thousands of proverbs, we select a few. " Give me neither poverty nor riches." Poverty leads to theft ; money to denying Grod. "A fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it till afterwards." Keep your own counsel. " Bray a fool in a mortar with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him." He is incorrigible, will be a fool still. "Give me room to sit down, and I'll find room to lie down." A man should make his own place. "When the tale of brick is doubled, Moses comes." Never despair. 94 aUGCESSFUL FOLKS. "He that passetli by, and meddletli with strife be- longing not to Mm, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears." Keep out of other peoples' broils. " Eemove not the old land-marks." Be honest. " Riches certainly make themselves wings, they fly away." Wealth is insecure. " Buy the truth aAd sell it not." Hold on to prin- ciple. "He that foUoweth after vain persons shall have poverty enough." Evil company is ruinous. " Thy father's friend forsake not." Tried advisers are best. "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly." A man must give as well as take. "He that is greedy of gain trouble th his own house." Avarice is an unwelcome lodger. " It is not meet to see servants on horses, and princes walking." There is a fitness in things. " If the iron be blunt and he do not whet the edge then must he put to more strength." Wisdom wHL direct. " Birds are caught in a snare ; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time." Temptations carry men under. " Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt."^ Wealth ruins more than poverty. " A man diligent in his business shall stand before kings." There is profit in labor. PBOVEBBS OF TRADE. 95 "The mills of the gods grind slow, but they grind fine." Retributive justice is sure, "The feet of the gods are shod with wool." Dis- asters don't herald their coming. "A diamond with a flaw is better than a pebble without." A talented man with a foible is better than a stupid man with none. " A fool will do in the end, what a wise man will do in the beginning." A prudent man foreseeth the evil. " A stone fit for the wall is not long out of place.' Talent will make room for itself. "Draw the snake from the hole with somebody else's hand." Profit by the folly of others. " Don't give your flour to the devil, and your bran to God." Waste not your strength on your appetites. " It is better to boil over, than not to boil at all." Mediocrity never vdns. " He who says what he likes, will hear what he does not like." "Better the child weep than the mother." " Of the word unspoken. Thou art master.' " Evil from thy mouth falls into thine own bosom." " Tell thy friend nothing that thine enemy may not iear." "In prosperity no altars smoke." "Men cut broad thongs from other men's leather.'* 96 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. XLIIL MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NEW YORK. Located ai No. 14A Broadway, City of New York. OREMOST among the attractive public build- ings of New York, stands the headquarters of the "Mutual Life. It is elegant in situa- tion, attractive and costly, and at once ar- rests the attention of visitors. This company is the great cash company of the metropolis. It handles more money, makes heavier loans, and transacts more business in money, than any institution in the State. Its style of doing business is seen in the fact, that its magnificent headquarters — which would rent easily for $50,000 a year — are rent-free to the company. The portion of the building not wanted by the Mutual Life is rented at a sum sufficient to defray the interest on the entire cost. The fame of the company for integrity, liberality, economy and success, has spread over the land and over the sea. No apcident, no luck, no speculation, has given the company its marvelous prosperity. It has earned it by indi^stry^ indomitable perseverance, and by securing the confidence of the public, which is and ever has been its business capital. The Start. — The company had no patron. On the 2nd day of February, 1843, it began work, and issued its first policy. Its headquarters was a desk-room in a back law office in Wall street. It had two officers; one had a salary of $800 a year, the other worked for nothing. The capital could have been carried in a man's vest pocket ; its business in a man's hat. The MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 97 first premium was $102. With this cash basis the ooncern began its career. Its present cash assets have reached the astounding figures of nearly eighty millions. The Mutual Life, being the original company, had the fate of all pioneers. It had to battle with igno- rance and bigotry. Little was known of life insurance, and that little was not liked. During its long career, the Company has never halted. Its prosperous march has never been arrested or impeded. Panics, civil war, business reverses, Black Friday, and financial tornados have shaken the foundations of commercial life, top- pled down the heaviest houses and swept out of exis- tence honorable institutions. These have never embar- rassed the workings of the Company, nor shaken its ■credit. On its fair business fame, during the thirty years of its operation, no stain has ever been cast. The State officials have borne affluent testimony to the hon- orable career of the Mutual Life. The commanding position of life insurance to-day is due, so the officials say, to the course pursued by this Comi)any. TJie Foundation Capital. — Men and institutions stand on character. Certain styles of goods lead the market. The brand of these houses has a market value. Third-rate and second-rate institutions must take a third or second-rate rank. It is possible for companies to obtain a temporary success. Banks and bankers, insurance companies, life and fire, without credit and without integrity, seem to prosper for a while. The race is a short one. A lightning express train, with the locomotive off, runs on a while without per- ceptible abatement of speed. But a heavy grade tells a story. The Mutual Life did not start to be a great institu- tion, nor to be a rival to any one. It started to do a safe business, a business based on industry and integ- rity. It purposed to be a foremost institution in intel- 7 98 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS ligence, honesty, and ability. It has lived to see hun- dreds of institutions that were famous when it was weak and unknown, pass out of sight. Its rule of business has been the common sense rule of success. Men who invest in real estate want to know if the title is good. There are eminent real estate lawyers in the city without whose approval prudent men will not ac- cept a title. Men who make large deposits select a bank whose credit is unquestionable, and whose man- agers are above suspicion. Men who insure early, and carry a policy for a lifetime, select, if they are pru- dent, an institution whose credit has survived the re- verses of a generation. A man who loves his wife and children desires that his widow shall inherit the money that is laid up for her, and not a lawsuit. What changes thirty years show ! The millionaire banker who sneered at the idea of insuring his life for twenty thousand dollars, and who said, in the pride of his heart, "I will turn my thousands into millions," left his children penniless. The rich broker, whose letter of credit was good at London or Berlin, became bankrupt. Men are in subordinate positions to-day who were once merchant princes, and builded up a fortune and a name by toil and capacity. Trust companies, whose rolls of directors contain names the most honorable in the city, have not only lost their entire capital, but have carried dismay and ruin into a thousand homes. Savings banks, after years of honorable repute and success, have had their whole capital stolen, thus robbing the widow and wronging the fatherless. Such disasters can never happen to the patrons of the Mutual Life. Its style of business, the guards thrown around its investments, the laws by which it is regulated, make the bonds of this company as safe as those of the U. S. Government itself. Besides the ample security afforded to all de- MUTUAL LIFE INSURANOE COMPANY. 99 positors, rich or poor, the policy-holders are partners, and share in the company's gigantic earnings. Why the Mutual Life Leads. — In every line of bus- iness some house must lead. In railroads somebody will be king. On 'change some voice vpill be potent. One or tv?o men on the street can shake the market vphen they will. In a gigantic lawsuit it is known be- forehand that certain advocates will be engaged. In cases of extreme peril certain medical men will be sum- moned, though a thousand miles away. There are not a dozen banking houses in which an operator would keep on deposit four millions. But there are such houses. They have earned their position by years of integrity. A rich corporation, resolute in its i)urpose to fight to the bitter end, paid its opponent half a mil- lion, and took the suit out of court, on the opinion of a lawyer of repute that the company had no case. Alongside of these successful men and successful in- stitutions, in the forefront, is the Mutual Life. It has earned its position. It is the oldest wholly mutual company in the land. Without controversy, it is the most reliable and the most successful. It can com- mand all improvements, and can issue all forms of policies that promise safety and profit. It is run on the line of true economy. Its immense assets, gigantic earnings, and huge business, enable it to offer its pro- tection cheaper than the so-called cheap societies. During all the yeai;s of its life, no calamity or disaster has touched it. No advantage is taken of technical- ities. A liberal policy is adopted, and in all cases the insured have the benefit of a doubt. Ko widow pleads with tears for the little pittance to keep the wolf from the door. T7ie Mutual Life a Benefactor. — It is not a genial thing to pioneer reform. Men resist changes, and are slow to receive new improvements. Generally people 100 auooEasFUL folks. had rather bear the ills they have, than fly to others that they know not of. The populace usually fight an innovation, and curse the innovator. The crowd that saw Fulton off in his steamboat jeered and hooted, and hoped that he would fail. Harvey was rewarded for his discovery of the circulation of the blood by the loss of practice, and nearly the loss of life. Waterhouse introduced vaccine. He dared not go out at nights. A crowd surrounded his house to mob him, and give him a coat of tar and feathers. Life insurance was not popular at the start. It was denounced as a lottery and a game of chance with Di- vine Providence. It tempted God, and presaged an early death. High up among the names of eminent benefactors will be found that of Alfred Pell. The system of life insurance, ks he stated it, was the forma- tion of a company based on the average of deaths. The company to insure its own members, the premiums to be the capital. All the earnings and profits to be divided among the policy-holders. Taking this sys- tem, the Mutual Life began its career. It battled ignorance, bigotry and prejudice. It secured the best ability, and set up a high standard of business honor. It purposed to deserve public confidence ; , to win cus- tom and keep it ; to fix the company on the solid basis of public esteem. With a capital of eighty millions, it walks by the same rule that it did when its funds amounted to $102, the amount of the first premium. Fraud in Trade. — -At home and abroad men are victims to frauds. Travelers in Europe take letters of credit on mushroom institutions, who promised to do business under the accustomed rates. These find them- selves often penniless in a strange land. In London and Paris gaudy establishments spring up and entrap the unwary. Those who prefer glare and glitter to solid safety are caught. Dingy banking-houses with MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 101 a half centuiy's repute upon thein are passed by. When the crash comes, patrons find, that promises are one thing, security another. Great business hoiises are often at their wits' end, with all their tact and shrewdness, to prevent imposition. In life insurance oflBcials have to be specially watchful. Diseased men try to pass for sound subjects. Men cheat in their age ; they hide hereditary taints ; disguise their phys- ical condition ; will pass the doctor and try to insure another person. All departments of trade feel these attempts to de- ceive. Ingenious devices are introduced. Banks suf- fer from forgeries, from raising checks and bonds. These devices are subtle and dangerous. Men and women make a trade of cheating. Pastors give money to furnish food for the starving that are full ; and to furnish a coffin and a shroud for persons who are not dead. Fraud has little chance in the Mutual Life. A sickly person is not likely to be insured in place of a stout healthy one. Cunningly-executed certificates of death will not pass. The relatives of pretended dead men seldom obtain money. Life Insurance not a Hazard. — The laws of storms and tides are certain. But not more so than the basis of life insurance. Old Probabilities makes his an- nouncement on the basis of the law of average. Life insurance rests on accurate calculations. A certain number will die young, a certain number die in old age. An average number will die in a generation. A certain number of deaths will occur in every ten years. The law of average will hold good in all life. An av- erage number in ten years will be drowned, or be burned to death, or be crushed under the wheels, or be run away with, or be swept ofE by pestilence or fever. The average number of careless people in the land can be counted. The number of letters flung into the post- 102 SUGGE88FUL FOLKS. office without superscription or stamp keeps pace with. the increase of population in all the large cities. Life insurance does not pretend to forecast what man oi woman will die within a certain period ; but the num- ber that will die can be accurately estimated. The law of gravitation is not more invariable. Business Reverses. — In the violent commercial pan- ics and reverses, a well-managed life insurance com- pany seems to be the only thing that panics and re- verses cannot shake. Banks blow up. Men with mil- lions fail. Trust companies are vainer things for safety than princes. Men who have enjoyed the confidence of the business world for years disappear in a night with the funds of others in their trunks. Men cry out : " Whom can we trust ? ' ' The security which the Mutual Life offers is ample. Men now insure to live. They make an investment in life insurance that they may have an elegant support in age. The shrewdest and most successful men carry the heaviest policies. It is a common thing for active merchants to insure for $10,000, or even $50,000. Some men have carried policies as high as $250,000. But men want ample security who make an investment like this. Every man is liable to reverses who is in trade. No man risks a venture at sea without taking into ac- count storms and huricanes. The stoutest barque succumbs to the cyclone. To all business men there are disasters that no foresight can predict, and no skill avert. A merchant died the other day — a member of one of our most resputable houses. Nobody placed his for- tune at less than oiie million and a half. His burial was very grand. His casket was lined with satin and covered with black velvet. The floral decorations were very costly. The undertaker warned the widow not to fling her money away. The bill for the coffin has MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. 103 not been settled, nor have the flowers been paid for. The rich man died a bankrupt. A merchant took out a handsome policy when he was a young man. Reverses came upon him, and he could not pay his premium. He went to the office to see what settlement he could make. To his great sur- prise and joy, he found that the policy could take care of itself. The earnings of the company not only car- ried the policy, but added a handsome sum to the original. Four thousand dollars lay in the bank. The owner made up his mind to take out an Endowment policy. Other counsels prevailed. He tells the story thus : "I was tempted to go on the street. I lost my money, and am ruined." On one of our ferryboats can be seen daily a man who is prematurely old. His walk is sad and slow. He keeps apart from men, a hermit in the midst of a crowd. He retired from business with an ample for- tune. He was fond of speculation, and the cotton trade had a great fascination for him. A man made Ms acquaintance who "knew all about cotton." A business arrangement was entered into. The man who had "run a plantation " was to reside in New Orleans, bay and ship cotton. The capitalist was to remain in the city, cash the drafts, and sell the merchandise. It was the old story ; on one side misplaced conhdence, on the other fraud. The fortune melted away like snow from a hillside in April. The poor fellow was stripped of every dollar. His brain reeled under the misfortune. In his sunny days he could have taken out an endowment that would have stood between him and want and despondency. Life Insurance as an Investment. — It was a grand service to bring forward life insurance as as a safe and profitable investment. The intelligent and beneficent 104 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. improvements enable a policy-holder to invest for hi» own good, as well as that of his family. Under the shield of this company a policy-holder can travel abroad, enjoy pictures and statuary, live elegantly, and even if reverses overtake him, can have an ample reserve for age. The old objection is nailed to the counter, that in life insurance "one must die to win." A man may spend all his income, yet with a sound policy to be paid to himself at a given time, the future is secure. By one form of policy a man may be rich at fifty, when most he needs money. A mean, nig- gardly, selfish spirit, that prevent^ a man from insur- ing will prevent success. ' ' A half a cent ruined him, and he did not know it." This was said of one who failed. He was sharp, grinding and exacting. He always got the best of the bargain. In making change the half cent was always in his favor. He was smart, and could look out for number one. Had he flung in the half cent as an advertisement — cheerily allowed others to share in his prosperity — had he possessed largeness of heart, he would have- crystallized round him these other elements that would have carried him to success. His meanness carried him' down. Personate. — Elegant as the central offices are in ex- ternal appearance, they bear no comparison with the quiet and subdued beauty of the interior. The rooms are fitted up in artistic style, such a style as is befitting a society that is the special guardian of widows and orphans. Without confusion, turmoil or excitement, the great business of the company runs like a well-ad- justed machine. Courtesy and politeness is the rule of the house. A merchant opened an account with one of our banks, and deposited $42,000. He said to the presi- dent, " I have not come to your bank simply because I belieye my money will be safe. It was safe in the MUTUAL LIFE IN8UBAN0E COMPANY. 105 Bank, where I have . deposited for twenty-five years. But I want to do business with you because you are civil. The cashier of my former bank is smart but impudent. I called at the bank to-day to do some business with the cashier ; I laid my hat on his desk, which, perhaps, I ought not to have done. He looked at me with the air of eighty millions, and said with an imperious wave of the hand, ' Take that hat off, sir.'' I removed the hat. The official then said, ' I'll now hear what you have to say.' ' I have nothing to say to you,' I replied. I went to the bookkeeper, had my account made up, and I propose never again to cross the threshold of the institution." No such complaint can be made against the officials of the Mutual Life. The President, Vice-President and Secretary, who are brought into immediate personal connection with the throng that fills the central offices, are patterns of politeness, with whom it is a pleasure to do business. The heads of the various departments are not only talented but polite. The employees are expected to be not only smart but civil. Eight hours a day is all that is required of the subordinates ; but the Presi- dent has no limit to his labor. He arrives early and remains late. He has full and complete oversight of the immense business of his company. He looks to every investment, and examines personally every check. The recent failure of a large trust company re- vealed the fact that the directors attended to their own business; the president was employed outside, and that the concern was run by a mere boy, who had every facility to steal. This line of business is in marked contrast with the active vigilance of the Presi- dent of the Mutual Life Insurance Company. 106 SUCGE8SFUL FOLKS. XLIV. FOLKS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. USINESS OUTLOOK. — CaUfornia, though scarcely thirty years old, exhibits the same elements of success that mark the older portions of the country. Talents that win on the Atlantic coast win on the Pacific seaboard. Traits that carry men under elsewhere ruin men on the Golden coast. The rich men of California are very rich. They are few in number. The railroad magnates are millionaires ; there are four of them,.but one is not. A few men own aU the farms. They buy land, but never sell. The great mass are hewers of wood and drawers of water. A ranche of three hundred thou- sand acres, a herd of fifteen thousand cattle and ten thousand sheep are not uncommon. Wheat-fields thirty miles long one man claims for his own. Every- thing is a monopoly. Four men control the gold market. One man has the monopoly of gas and ice. Priedlander is king of the grain market. Lux and Miller are the princes of cattle men ; they cannot count their herds nor name their miles of pasture. There is hardly a rich man in California that has not failed many times and tried his hand at a dozen things before he was pronounced a success. Geneeal Williams came across the Plains ; he landed in San Francisco penniless and unknown. He turned his hand to anything that would give him bread. He drifted into the law. A client gave him some worth- less stock as a fee. He threw it into his safe and it was regarded of no account. The despised stock was Con- FOLKS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 107 solidated Virginia. It lifted the general into a million- aire. Michael Reese is the money-lender of the coast. He is as mean as dirt. He eats at third-class restau- rants, because there is no fourth. On his way up to fortune he has been dragged through the mud and mire of a great city. His great passion is gain. Yet he sometimes does a nice thing. He loaned the Bank of California in its extremity one million dollars. When Flood and O'Brien were keeping a rum- shop, their horse was groomed by a Mr. Finegan. He took good care of the animal. Out of gratitude for his fidelity in small things, Flood gave him a hint when the Bonanza Mine bloomed. Finegan took the hint and came out of the experiment owning two millions. He is a ruddy, florid Irishman, about forty — with the culture and refinement of a horseman. GrEBTERAL Redingtok turned his hands to all sorts of tilings before he made a fortune. His history shows the value of putting this and that together. He was a dealer in quicksilver. The demand for this article in mining is limited. The Bonanza men gave Redington an order for a large amount. He thought something' was the matter. He filled the order— went out on the street and bought stock, and secured a fortune of four hundred thousand dollars. Alonzo Haywood was flat broke. He could not get trusted for a sack of flour or a piece of bacon. Without these he could not prospect. He begged hard for one more indulgence. With his bacon on his shoulder, and his flour under his arm, he started for the mines. He was not seen for a month. When he returned he was a millionaire. 103 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. Baldwin, of California, is known as "Lucky Baldwin." He is a "jack at all trades," and a suc- cess everywhere. He was a farmer, a blacksmith, and a stable-keeper. He has run a grocery, owns a hotel. He managed a theater. He appeared as a boatman on a canal at St. Louis. He became a perambulating tradesman. He made his wagons in the shape of boats to cross rivers. He drove a spirited trade with the saints at Salt Lake City in tobacco and rum. He ex- changed his wagons for mules and packed them for the coast, trading all the way. His luck shadowed him over the Plains. He was just behind a party who were scalped. He was a little ahead of a party who were robbed. The Indians stole everybody's horses but his. He reached San Francisco in the morning, and before night had purchased a temperance hotel. Other things failing him, he went to brick-making and made a handsome profit. Ophir was ruining everybody. Baldwin tried his hand at it and made eighteen millions. His moral status is not high. He is about fifty, tall, wiry, slim, dark, nervous and energetic. Daeius O. Mills is best known as the President of the Bank of California. For a while he was sub- ordinate to Ralston. He was greatly indebted to Ralston for his business success. His friendship did not blind him to Ralston' s faults. He left the bank, and in so doing, greatly raised his own credit. Mills is a fortunate man. He is not rash enough to make things unsafe. His very luxuries are to him a source of wealth. His fine estate at Milbrae is a milk ranche, and he makes money out of his imported cattle and his dairy. Rev. De. Hoeatio Stebbins represents Liberal Christianity on the Coast. He is a genial, scholarly JAMES OLAIB FLOOD. 109 and popular, and successful pastor. He is a firm friend of education. His society is solid and stable ; rich and of Mgli social standing. The music of the church is very excellent, and of high repute throughout the city. Dr. Stebb^ns would not be accounted a magnetic preacher. He wins through the intellect. His people are not easily gathered, and not lightly drawn away. The advent of Starr King changed organized Unita- rianism materially. His ' mantle ' has descended on shoulders well worthy to bear it. XLV. JAMES CLAIR FLOOD. IR. FLOOD is said to be the richest man on the Pacific coast. His income is larger than that of Rothschild. Five millions a month is the yield of the Bonanza mines, and that sum is divided between four persons. Flood is about fifty years old, stolid, resolute and energetic. He kept what is called in San Francisco, a gin-mill. It was a rude establishment, yet patronized by the market, the stock board, and the wholesale trade. He kept no bar. His liquors were drawn from the cask, piled one above the other. He prospered and was forehanded. He now lives in plain style in an ordinary dwelling, and with his wife, secures the comforts of a moderate home. Flood's own story is this : "I was on Montgomery street one day, and a friend said, 'Treat me.' I re- plied, 'I have no money.' 'Buy Consolidated Vir- 110 SUCGESSFUL FOLKS. ginia,' was the answer. Partly in jest, and partly in earnest, I said : ' Buy me a thousand shaies.' The mine was an .old one, and supposed to be exhausted. My order was filled at six dollars a share. I continued to buy until I got control of the mine, which was about five thousand shares, and which cost me about sixty thousand dollars. My friends thought me crazy. I thought I had a good thing. I ran a secret drift through the neighboring mines, and struck a rich body of ore. In ten years we have paid thirty- three millions in divi- dends, and we now pay a dividend of two dollars a month in gold, on five hundred and forty thousand shares." ' XLVI. ISAAC LANKERSHIEM. R. LAISTKERSHIEM is a Christian Jew— a man of resolute and decided Christian prin- ciples. He is about sixty years of age, short and comjjact. He is one of the best busi- ' ness men in the State. He has never broken with his Jewish brethren. They have great confidence in his business ability and integrity. He can command any amount of money that is needed in any speculation in which he chooses to enter. He is one of the largest and most unostentatious givers in the land. He do- nated to the Baptist college what he called a "little farm." The farm was worth ten thousand dollars, and the grain housed was worth three thousand more. He sent a check of one thousand dollars to a mission- ^^m fe^ l^ Eng^'-tiyW. &. Ja,cV.ninti,N X I8AAG LAKKEBSHIEM. lii ary's widow in India, to bring her family home. A mere accident brought to light this magnificent gift. When things draw heavy in the church Mr. Lanker- shiem looks out for his minister. It is no uncommon thing for this gentleman to mail a check for one thou- sand dollars to his pastor to " encourage" him in his work. Mr. Lankershiem formed a very strong attachment to Elder Knapp, the evangelist. He urged Mr. Knapp , to make Calif ornia his home. "Do this," he said, "and I will buy a ranche, pay for it, and take care of it, and give you one half the increase." Mr. Knapp' s family would not leave Illinois, and the scheme was aban- doned. "Perhaps you would like to sell out," said the capitalist. "I don't own anything." "You own half of the ranche," was the reply. "It cost eighteen thousand doUars ; it was worth thirty-six thousand. Here is your eighteen thousand, go home and be happy." Mr. Lankershiem is one of the great agriculturists of the State. His ranche is measured by miles. His wheat-fields cover fifty thousand acres. His cattle and sheep are numbered by the thousands. Few operators in San Francisco equal him in the magnitude of hi» enterprises. The great monument of liberality is seen in Met- ropolitan Temple, in which Rev. Dr. KaUock preaches* It is a center and popular place of resort, costing over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. There is lit- tle doubt that this magnificent property will be trans- feiTed to the church without the incumbrance of one dollar, through the liberality of this extraordinary man, whose name should, be enshrined in the affections of the Baptist world and grouped with the millionaire givers on the Atlantic coast. \n -SUGOMSSFUL FOLKS. XLVIL W. C. RALSTON. ALSTON was long the popular idol of San Francisco. In the fullness of his manhood and the fullness of his strength, he gave all he had to the city he loved so well. He was pre-eminently great, and was never more so than the day his body was drawn from the sullen water. As a business man, no one surpassed him in boldness and force. His intuitions never failed him. He made the Eank of California, which he founded, the financial power of the State. It was the center of all great en- terprises, and the rendezvous of bold, daring men. His talent brought him to the front. He came promptly and prominently to the front. He entered into every scheme that promised to honor the State. He was a public man in every sense of the word. He took upon himself the expense of ■ a public host. He dined and wined, and sent on his way the visitor with gratitude and wonder. He drove his friends in his team and relay horses, to Belmont, even ahead of the railroad, that his guests might receive deserved attention. His style of life would have killed most men. He rose at six, and every hour of the day was occupied. He was the Bank of California, and his word was law. He owned the water- works, valued at millions. He furnished funds to move the crops. No man could present a cause designed to help or benefit California, that did not find a friend and helper in Ralston. Had his moral character equalled his business ability, he would have been the most popular business man of the JAMES LICK. 113 nation. The crisis came upon Mm, and he was not equal to it. A man of untold wealth, he died poor. He died as he had lived, the most popular man on the coast. He died at fifty, and his sun went down in the darkness. The day before he died his repute was never higher. He knew his time had come. He knew that six millions of the Bank capital was missing. He knew that in twenty -four hours he would be exposed and rained. He turned from his splendid mansion, and he passed the night with a relative. The next morn- ing he met the directors in the little room where so loTig he had reigned a sovereign. The worst was known. He turned from the office by a side door, threw himself into the waters of the bay, and was a corpse before the discussion closed. XLvni. JAMES LICK. |R. LICK gave Fortune a long chase before he overtook her. In the marble hotel that bears his name he lived like a hermit in a -den that would not have been tidy for a hostler. He died at war with God and man, and denied the .Saviour vdth his dying breath. He made and revoked three trust deeds, and would have re- voked the fourth had he lived long enough. His eccentricities grew out of a love affair when he was a young man. He loved a miller's daughter, but as he owned no mill the father packed him off. He kept her 8 114 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. memory ripe, and when he had money he erected a mill and adorned it with mahogany and costly woods. Mr. Lick never married. Mr. Lick was an adventurer. He made pianos and failed. He drifted about from pillar to post, and at last landed in California. His common sense displayed itself. His companions rushed for the mines. Lick remained in the city. In the sand-hills, in the paper and cloth, houses, and streets knee-deep in mud, in a city nnpaved, unlighted, and without sidewalks, he saw the future queen of the coast. He invested eighteen thousand dollars, his entire fortune, in city lots, which he bought by the mile. In taking posses- sion, the squatters and the Chinese resisted him. He served his writs of dispossession personally, and at the mouth of a pistol. He held on to his purchases, and the rise of property gave him untold wealth. A full- length portrait hangs in the rooms of the Pioneer Club. It represents a well-preserved man of sixty, who might pass for president of a college, or the late Abraham Lincoln. XLIX. LBLAND STANFORD. OVERNOE, STANFORD is one of the four great railroad magnates of the coast. No- body puts him down at less than fourteen millions. Like most of the rich men of California, he engaged iu a dozen enterprises before the right thing turned up. He is about forty years of age. LELAND STANFORD. 115 He is a stocky, compactly-built person, with a resolute, half -defiant air, a complexion like Webster's, of which his uncle said: "Dan, go into the army; gunpowder won't spoil your face." Mr. Stanford was a farmer, a trader; during all the while he was student, and when he came to the front he possessed a capital busi- ness education. A silent man, hfe had great energy, tact and push. In every failure he recovered himself. He was the first Republican governor of the State. He insisted upon being inaugurated as the constitution required, though the capitol was under water and had to be reached by boats. California was isolated. The Rocky mountains must be passed and railroad connections opened with the East. Four men believed this could be done, — Stan- ford, Colton, Crocker, Hopkins. The rest of the world denounced the enterprise. The project was met by a storm of ridicule. Shrewd men said the scheme was visionary ; its conception, folly ; its end, ruin. Any man who had a hundred dollars had a chance to invest. The gigantic enterprise of an overland route from the Atlantic to the Pacific owes its success to the dogged obstinacy and perseverance of Leland Stanford. Let those laugh who win. Stanford has fourteen mil- lions. Hopkins died worth fifteen millions. Colton and Crocker live in princely style. These four men, who had not money enough at the start to buy a sup- per, are now the railroad magnates of the world. On one of the lofty sand-hills on which the city of San Francisco rests — known as Nob Hill — stands the home mansion of Grov. Stanford. It is more gorgeous than any private dwelling west of the Rocky mountains. It has no rival in the land. The grand salon of the Tuil- leries ; the library of the Marlborough house ; the ball- room of Buckingham palace, are not as elegant. The blue room, the red room, the Pompeiian room, the 116 8WC0ESSFUL FOLKS. dining-room, the picture-gallery, library, drawing- room, conservatory, and saloon par excellence, open- ing one into the other on the same floor, are regal. The harmony is exquisite, running even into the knobs of the doors, the bell-pulls, the shades, the lamps, curtains and ornaments. The house is not on show. Occasionally to personal friends the lady of the mansion throws open its treasures to inspection. REV. JOHK HEMPHILL. E. HEMPHILL is the popular pastor of Cal- vary Presbyterian Church of San Francisco. He is an Irishman by birth, fluent, magnetic, attractive. He is a natural orator, enthusi- astic, picturesque and illustrative. His voice is reson- ant and magnetic, full and clear. He is affluent in social gifts, and without dispute is the leading Presbyterian clergyman on the coast. Calvary Church ranks foremost among the churches of the city, and is worthy of its young pastor. Mr. Hemphill is distin- guished for indomitable industry. For years he has held his high position with honor and success. He came to the coast in J 869 on a mission of charity. The call to Calvary Church was unexpected and flat- tering. He returned to Ireland, took an honorable dismission from the Union Road Church, and entered upon his popular career in 1870. He is a sturdy de- fender of Evangelical truth, and everywhere honors the Cross. BiaST BBV. BIBSOP KIPP. 117 LI. RI&HT EEV. BISHOP KIPP. HE Bisliop of California was consecrated in 1863. He has maintained with distin- guislied honor the high fame of his family. He was trained for the law. His iine execu- tive ability and business tact comes from that early training. He changed his profession, went through the general Theological Seminary of New York, and was ordained over St. Peter's in Morristown. He served for a season the aristocratic Grace Church of New York. He was transferred to St. Peter' s at Al- bany, where he distinguished himself by his eloquence and authorship. He won national fame by his "Double Witness." He was called with great unan- imity to the bishoprick of the Pacific coast. He took the crude materials of California, and moulded them into a compact and thriving denomination. He spent thirty thousand dollars to make his diocese what it is. His social rank has always been high, and he has a great hold on , the wealth of San Francisco. He is a learned, eloquent and catholic pulpit orator. He has marked artistic and aesthetic tastes. His library, stat- uary, and other adornments of his residence, make his home one of the most attractive of th« State. 118 auaOESSFUL FOLKS. LIL REV. ISAAC S. KALLOCK. R. KALLOCK is a popular orator, and has tlie masses at his command. They come ■when he calls them. Before his house was built he preached in a hall, cold, uncomfort- able, and barn-like. It was full rain or shine. In his own massive audience-room, the crowd laugh or cry, as he suggests. His collections, which are an indication of popular feeling, average' four hundred dollars a month the year through. The United Churches proposed to have a popular service on Sunday night. Six thousand dollars wete needed to carry on the work. A preacher and two pastors to support him were indispensable. While the discussion was going on, Kallock' went out and hired a hall at his own expense ; kept it crowded for six months ; he asked no odds, his plate collections pay- ing everything, and leaving him a magnificent surplus. Mr. Kallock is in the prime of life ; he is tall and robust, over six feet high, and of magnificent propor- tions. He is fearless and dashing. A massive crop of curly auburn hair, which he never brushes, covers his head. He is a man of indomitable industry and never tires. He runs the Baptist denomination on the coast from necessity. He does v/hat other men will not do. He owns and edits the Evangel. He is a great power in conventions and councils. He controls the college and holds the educational interest in his hand. He has hot friends and deadly foes, as such a man must always have. He has fought his way to position through incessant hostility. He came to the coast to l.=- r-. 1, 5. KALLOCK EON. A. N, TOWFE. 119 do work which he will probably finish. As he put it in his opening sermon : — " I shall make San Francisco my home. I have brought my knitting work, and pro- pose to stay." Lni. HON. A. N. TOWNE. HE Central Pacific Road is one of the best managed lines in the country. It has one of the ablest general superintendents. He looks anything but a railroad man. His style of dress is scholarly, and he could easily be taken for a merchant or banker. He has a quiet reserve that impresses one. His eye is bright, his manners pleasant and winning. He is a Massachusetts boy, and began his railroad experience as a brakeman on a freight train. He was bright, capable and winning. His methods attracted attention, illustrating the proverb : "A stone fit for the wall is not long out of place." A telegram one day stopped his train and he was ordered to the general office. He was pointed to a chair, told to take a seat at the desk. " I know nothing about clerking it," said young Towne. "You can do what yon are told, I suppose," was the senten- tious response. He did what he was bid, and did it well. The Pacific Central was in search of a superintend- ent. It was nearly impossible to find a man who had executive ability sufficient to control turbulent opera- tives. Towne was recommended as the ^ right man for 130 SUCCESSB'UL FOLKS. the right place. The liberal offer nearly took Towne's breath away: "twelve thousand dollars a year to begin with." Employees of the road were more amused than startled at the advent of the "superin- tendent." A quiet, pleasant, gentlemanly-spoken man. The executive ability for which Mr. Towne has always been celebrated, began to work. The manage- ment was kept out of sight. There was no noise, no bluster, no threats. Turbulent and ungovernable men somehow slipped out and loyal men came in. The road assumed a movement not unlike a well-oiled locomotive. Of his methods Mr. Towne says: "I systematize my work. It never drives me. I keep ahead of it. Every day's work is finished before I leave my office. 1 use all persons alike, whatever may be their positions on the road. In business I con- sider everyone entitled to courteous treatment. When I deny a favor I try to do it as though it was painful to myself." LIV. REV. A. L. STONE, D.D. R. STONE is an influential man, and a model pastor. He has earned his position by years of labor and success. He was the popular pastor of Park Street Church, Boston. He accepted a call to the coast. And few men have more to show for the years of toil for which he has labored, than Dr. Stone. He is firmly built, with a healthy organization. His presence in the pulpit is winning. WILLIAM SHABOK 1211 His voice is sonorous and clear as a bell. His pulpit manners are in excellent taste. His sermons are short and attractive. He has held his position over the head of the First Congregational Church for more than a dozen years. His own society has kept pace with the secular growth of the city, in wealth and beauty. He began his ministry of the First Church in a small wooden structure, near what is now Qhinatown. His present house of worship is one of the most commanding in the city. The church is large, the location fashiona- ble, the spire lofty, and all the appointments fine. He is necessarily a leader. He is discreet, prudent, fraternal, eloquent, and his judgment is weighty. It is probable Dr. Stone will close his life-work with this people. LY. WILLIAM SHARON. R. SHAROlSr is a member of the United States Senate from Nevada. His home is in San Francisco. He is not much to look ^^ at — blonde, slim, wiry, restless. He is keen and smart. In Ohio he practised law. He went into Real estate and failed. He became a broker in San Francisco and was cleaned out. Ralston, then in his glory, formed his acquaintance, and found in Sharon a man after his own heart. Ralston sent him to Nevada City to look after the interests of the Bank of Califor- nia. He showed marked ability in protecting Ral- ston' s loans. He secured some valuable mines, among 123 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. them Belcher and Ophir. He secured the monopoly of a profitable railroad. He made money for himself and his employer. Working with Ralston he became very rich. When Ralston died, he assumed his debts and took the estate. He gave the Bank of California five millions to repair Ralston' s waste. He settled on Mrs. Ralston, after she had been abandoned by all her friends, a fortune of nearly half a mUlion, assigning as a reason, " She is the widow of my benefactor." LVI. JOSEPH C. DUNCAN. ICH men suddenly go out of sight on the coast. A year ago, Duncan would have been written down as one of the successful men of San Francisco. With business men, who did not know him thoroughly, he had a fair standing. He began as an auctioneer. He made some money in a gift lottery scheme. He was believed to be rich, and won public confidence. He erected a costly banking house, and as a trustee held the pittance of the poor, and funds of the widow and fatherless. His business was a sham from foundation to turret. His relations, who were in office, were mere puppets moved by his will. One day his house came crashing down. Great frauds were exposed. Disastrous speculations used up the deposits. Stock was over-issued ; gigantic frauds laid bare, and the great robber himself fled between two days. He was captured skulking about the dark PETER DONAHUE. 133 places of the town. Bold in the wrong — heroic in crime — daring in theft, when arrested he cried and whined and supplicated like a coward. He begged for mercy, who had shown no pity. He prayed the public to spare his family, for whom he had no regard. He left his elegant home for a prison. He gave up an honored name at sixty for the repute of a perjurer and the wages of sin. LVII. PETER DONAHUE. g^^l B,. DONAHUE is one of the few men on the |M^| coast who have made a fortune by hard blows, !^^^] well directed. He is a Scotchman, about ^^=^^^^ fifty, resolute in build, and rugged. He was a blacksmith, and carries about with him the air of a man who has had hard usage. When quite young he proved himself to be too able and too intelligent t© work at the forge. He displayed great ability to man- age men. He found his sphere when put in charge of a machine-shop. As a machinist he worked slowly and sturdily toward the front. He built the city gas works and took that valuable stock as his pay. As a steamboat owner, he threw himself against the Pacific Coast Eailroad monopoly. He built the Santa Rosa road with his own money, without subsidy or outside aid. He connected it with San Francisco by steam- boat. His commercial honor stands high. His word is as good as his bond. He is worth four millions, and his donations to charity are large. 134 auacEasFUL folzb. LYIIL JAMES R. KEENE. R. KEENE' S father was a merchant in Eng- land. Commercial disaster overtook him. He came to America to mend his fortune. The son had a good business education. The lad knew that he had his own fortiine to make, and went about it. He was a sharp and daring boy. Speculation had a charm for him. A considerate broker gave him a start. He did the street work for the house that helped him. He was bold, daring, rash, and improved every opportunity to rise. He made himself so useful to his employers, that they bought him a seat in the Board. His judgment was quick and accurate. His style was mysterious and dazzling. He could mis- lead and demoralize the market when he chose. He was popular, and often was cheered when in the mar- ket, when he made one of his dazzling dashes. His first great operation was in " Belcher and Crown Point," through which he cleared a quarter of a mil- lion. In 1874 he wrote up three millions. He tried Ophir, and in one week won six hundred and forty thousand dollars. He bearded Flood and O'Brien in their den ; denounced Consolidated Virginia, and pre- dicted its demoralization. His daring and dash won him renown. In an incredibly short time he was regis- tered as worth five millions. The failure of the Bank of California showed of what stock Keene was made. The house that helped him in his struggling days was involved by the bank, at the amount of two millions. Before the worst was known, Keene went to his friend, and said: "If a GHIEF-JUSTICE DALY. 135 quarter of a million will help you, here is my check." He was as liberal in the distribution of his funds as he was successful in gaining fortunes. He gave his father one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He made his relatives rich. His private charities were often in donations as large as fifty thousand dollars. He was flesh and blood ; his nerves were neither iron nor steel, and no living man could bear the strain of his style of business. His health gave way, and he sought relief on the Atlantic slope. In Wall street he created a sensation, and made himself a man of mark at once. Want, like an armed man, came upon the working fam- ilies of San Francisco. Mr. Keene placed a liberal sum of money at the disposal of the churches, with the re- quest that suffering might be relieved without regard to sect or nationality. LIX. CHIEF-JUSTICE DALY. :i ON. CHARLES P. DALY, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, is eminent as a jurist, and a literary and scientific writer. As a geographist his fame has crossed the seas. In a recent visit to Europe he was honored by the scientific world. The treasures of the museums were thrown open to him, and he was the guest of the prominent jurists of London. Judge Daly was born in the city of New York. His father came from the North of Ireland, and worked at 126 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. his trade as a carpenter for many years. He was a man of character, talented, intelligent, and energetic. He soon outgrew the workshop, and established himself in business on the spot where the Tribune building now stands. His father died, leaving him in tender years de- pendent on his stepmother. Young Daly determined to earn his own living, and be a burden to no one. ^ He obtained a clerkship in Savannah, where he was over- worked and badly treated. He secured the rugged position of a sailor before the mast, and spent three years on the sea. He returned to New York and ap- prenticed himself to a trade, working vigorously by day and employing his nights by study. He joined a literary society, and became an earnest and eloquent debater. An accident turned his attention to the Law. The society embraced an unusual number of talented men. Most of the boys became celebrated — eloquent clergymen, eminent lawyers, rich merchants, learned jurists, actors and Journalists. Among the members, Mr. Soule was distinguished as a lawyer. He was attracted by the rare gifts, the in- dustry and intelligence exhibited by young Daly. He sought an introduction, and advised the young me- chanic to study law. This could not be thought of,, as young Daly had no means to devote to eduqation, and his time was not his own. The lawyer was so earnest that he proposed to furnish funds to send the young man to Union College. This proposal was not accepted, as Mr. Daly could not put himself under such heavy obligations to any one. Soon after this offer was made, the master died. Mr. Soule renewed his offer immediately for Mr. Daly to take a seat in his office as a student-at-law, as death had canceled the indentures. A year and a half of service remained unfulfilled, yet the apprentice was GEIEF-JU8TICE Bj3.x:,Y. 127 now Ms own master. With a delicate sense of honor which has marked Judge Daly's whole public career, he refused to take advantage of his position. Legally he was a free man ; morally he felt himself bound to- serve out his time. The widow was embarrassed and needed his services. He could aid her by conducting the business. No persuasions could induce him to re- linquish his purpose to serve out his apprenticeship. When his indentures were fully canceled, he com- menced the study of law, under the guidance of his steadfast friend, Mr. Soule. He started on a pittance of one hundred and fifty dollars a year. He roomed in the office,, was always on hand and always at work, and soon made himself so useful that his salary was raised to three hundred dollars. In those days a student had to study seven years before he could be admitted to the bar. For three years young Daly toiled on, distinguished for diligence and integrity. Mr. Rowley, the senior member of the firm, was sa captivated by the close application of his student to study, that he made a movement to have the seven- year rule relaxed, and an allowance of time granted to Mr. Daly. This motion was seconded by some of the eminent men of the bar, who regarded' young Daly as a match for any one. Chief-Justice Nelson heard the motion. The examination was made in the presence of the Court and Bar. At the expiration of three years and six months of study, Mr. Daly was admitted to practice in all the courts in the State. He opened an office with Mr. McElrath as partner. Soon after, Mr. McElrath turned his attention to journalism. He pur- chased the New TorJcer, changed it to the Tribune, took the position of publisher, introduced Mr. Q-reeley as editor, and swung that influential sheet on the tide of success. Mr. Daly formed a partnership with Mr. 128 8UGGE88FUL FOLKS. Bloomfield, and entered at once upon a successful practice. Political honors were in store for him, and in 1843 he was elected to the New York Legislature. Here the great temptation of his life assailed him. The glamour of political distinction threw on his pathway its fascinating glare. He was offered a nomination for the State Senate, and to a seat in the Congress of the United States. Each nomination was an equivalent to an election. A young man in the flush of youth, on the threshold of life, had to choose between the drudg- ery of the law and the fascination of political posi- tion. He took a judicial view of the situation, and ex- amined both sides. He knew that legal eminence was incompatible with the life of a politician. He rejected the glittering bauble and bowed down to hard work. Eminence came to him sooner than he thought. A vacancy existed on the bench of the Common Pleas Court, Judge Inglis' time being out. Candidates were numerous, and their friends were active. First and foremost. Judge Inglis was a candidate for re-nomina- tion. He was a Whig, and the appointing powers were Democratic. Many Democrats were opposed to intro- ducing politics into the judiciary. They said a good judge should not be lost to the State because he was a Whig. Judge Daly was an earnest and active friend to Judge Inglis, and urged his re-appointment. The movement split the party, and Gov. Bouck was in a quandary. He needed the votes of both sides. He would make enemies should he nominate or refuse to nominate Judge Inglis. Gov. Marcy, with his sturdy common sense, advised the Governor to throw both candidates overboard, and select a new man. Mr. Croswell, of the Argus, gave his voice in the same di- rection. Gov. Marcy added, "If I were in your sit- uation. Gov. Bouck. I would nominate Charles P. OniEF-JUSTIOE DALY. 139 Daly." Mr. Daly was ignorant of what was going on. He was invited to the Governor's room, and to his as- tonishment was notified that he was to be appointed to the vacant seat in the Court of Common Pleas. He promptly and peremptorily declined the honor ; Judge Inglis was his friend ; he had pressed his nomination with earnestness and sincerity, and he could not sup- plant him. Further, he said he was too young a man to aspire to the judicial ermine. Gov. Bouck assured the young candidate that youth was a disqualification that he would soon outgrow. A kind and earnest let- ter from Judge Inglis assured Mr. Daly that the nomi- nation was beyond his reach, and Daly's declinature would not serve him. Thanking his friend for his un- selfish labors, he begged him as a friend to accept the nomination. This removed the remaining difficulty, and in 1844 Judge Daly took his seat on the bench as one of the Justices of Common Pleas. He won dis- tinguished honors as a Jurist, and many years ago was elevated to the rank of chief justice. A national repute was' won by Judge Daly in the Astor Place riots. It was a general theory that no man could be convicted for a riot ; that a popular tu- mult was a sort of outgrowth of our free instititutions ; outbreaks were not desirable, but were unavoidable ; were to be dealt with leniently and in no wise to be severely punished. It was an accidental thing that Judge Daly was assigned to try the Astor Place rioters. The duty belonged to Recorder Talmage, but he was sick, and the unpopular trial was assigned to Judge Daly as the youngest judge on the bench. According to the custom of the day, two aldermen were elected to sit vsith the judge. One was a Democrat and one a Whig. They had equal authority and could overrule the judge. The Democrat openly sympathized with the rioters, and determined to clear them. Should the 9 130 aUGOESaFUL F0LK8. Whig alderman side with the Democratic, every prisoner in the dock would 'go clear. The judge was a Democrat, and the friends of the accused were cer- tain of speedy acquittal at the outset. Judge Daly' s position excited astonishment. He grappled with riot- ing as a great crime against law and order ; a rioter was a despot, and despotism must be put down at all hazards ; men who stir up a popular tumult to advance their own selfish ends, must take the consequences, as do other criminals. As the trial proceeded Judge Daly wa^ anxious to know the bias of his Whig associate. He was a stranger to the judge — a mechanic by trade — a man of moderate ability — saying nothing, but watching the presiding officer. A decision was called for on a point raised, and Judge Daly appealed to the Whig alder- man. He replied : " Judge, I have been watching you since this trial began. You understand your duty, and mean to do right. Don't ask me any questions. Try the case fairly in the interests of justice, and I will stand by you to the end." The rioters were convicted, and the leader sent to the penitentiary. The civil war broke upon the country. Judge Daly threw himself at once boldly and earnestly on the Union side. He was the orator of Tammany Hall in 1862, and made fervent and patriotic appeals to that ancient society to uphold the Union and prosecute the war. He believed that an exchange of prisoners was demanded as an act of humanity. His pleadings cap- tivated the heart of President Lincoln, and he invited him to address the Cabinet on that question. He won ' over an unwilling audience, and the Federal and Con- federate prisoners were exchanged. The Trent affair threatened to involve our nation in a foreign war. Mason and Slidell had been taken from under the British flag on the high seas. The Secretary CEIEF-JUSTIOE DALY. 131 of State, Mr. Seward, was for holding them captives at all hazards. Eminent lawyers sustained the Secretary of State, and gave it as their opinion that the seizure could be maintained by law. Judge Daly visited Washington to plead with the government to release the captives. He argued that the seizure was not only void by the law of nations, but was illegal judged by our own practice. Doggedly resolute as Mr. Seward was on the matter, he had so much confidence in the sound wisdom and learning of the New York .judge, that he demanded the authority on which Judge Daly based his opinion. He spent one day at the law li- brary at the capital, made up his brief and argued it before the Secretary of State, who became satisfied that the captives would have to be given up, and persuaded the President to order their discharge. Personally Judge Daly is popular with the masses. He was a fervent orator in all the great Union gather- ings. As President of St. Patrick's Society, he was a great favorite at the annual benevolent banquets of other bodies — able, witty, winning, genial. Twelve years ago he was elected President of the American Geographical Society. He has placed himself in cor- respondence with the thirty -four kindred societies of the world. His correspondence, his printed addresses, and published works, have made his name familiar tO' the scientific of the old world. He has brought up the Geographical Society from a feeble thing to a robust membership of nearly two thousand. He was one of the commission of sixteen to frame the judicial sys- tem of the State, and to his industry and ability, the system is greatly indebted for its existence. As an orator, he is eloquent ; as a writer, captivating, lucid and learned ; as a jurist, discriminating, impartial and bold. 132 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. BOaARDUS, THE PHOTOGRAPHER. HE art of photography is young in years. It is the modern invention, and at once com- mends itself to men of artistic tastes and intelligence. A knowledge of photography was easily acquired, and men left their counters and workshops and fields of employ to enter a new vocation, where large rewards followed little effort and no skill. The operator, by a little mechanical trick and a regard to certain conditions of light and chemicals, could pro- duce a picture. The dark age of photography was at its start. Men who could not paint a common tavern sign were able to set up as expert photographers. The man who did more than all others to elevate this grand art from its degradation and place it on the high ped- estal on which it now rests, was Abraham Bogardus, the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this paper. Mr. Bogardus was born in Dachess county, in the State of New York, in 1822. He was a farmer' s son, and at the age of fourteen turned his steps toward the great city of New York, that loomed up before his eye as he was turning the furrow or doing the drudgery allotted to a boy on a farm. He began his career in a store ; but measuring tape and selling ribbons was not to his taste. He had an artist' s eye and a poet' s fancy, and the right thing for a life-work did not turn up. Just then daguerreotypes attracted public attention. There was a mystery and a magic about a sun-picture, and young Bogardus was fascinated by the art. He learned to take pictures, an i found aa employment that was B0GABBU8, THE PHOTOaRAPHBB. 133 suited to his genius. He opened a gallery at the corner of Barclay and Greenwich streets, which afterwards be- came so famous, in the metropolis. His gallery was an humble one, and his whole outfit did not cost fifty dol- lars. The gains were slow, but Bogardus' Dutch pluck stood him in good stead. He had faith in the future, and toiled on. Daguerreotype gave way to photography. Earnest, energetic, ingenious men, were exploring the mysteries of chemistry, and daily bringing to light new discov- eries and perfecting the art of photography. Among this class, Mr. Bogardus stood in the forefront. Beside his own inventions, he seized and eagerly applied all ' the new discoveries that made his art a success. He gave personal attention to his sitters, and presided over the camera, and saw that every picture was per- fect. This close j^ersonal attention raised him in the popular estimation, and gave his pictures a perfection and value not found elsewhere. When the card de visite was introduced, photography received an impetus that has never been lost. Mr. Bogardus opened a new gallery on the corner of Broadway and Franklin street, and it required all the time of an active man to take orders and answer the calls of the great rush. Three skylights were used, and forty hands employed to meet the popular demand. Sometimes a hundred dozen were ordered in a day. Before the reinoval, one assistant was sufficient ; afterward, the pay-roll ran up to five hundred dollars a week. The next improvement that Mr. Bogardus introduced was the production of life-size pictures and family groups. The accuracy, the elegance of the pictures, and the rapidity of their production, made them every way superior to a first-class oil-painting. In this style of work Mr. Bbgardus stands confessedly at the head of his profession. It has been a close study with this 134 , SUCCESSFUL FOLKS artist to select the fitting posture for his pictures. He has great artistic taste. Knows how to group families together, give pose to the head, bring out the telling expression, and furnish an artistic as well as a faithful likeness. In Bogardus' gallery business is conducted on a regular system. Everything is first-class about the establishment, — the camera, chemicals, skylight and employees. Pictures can be taken indoors or outdoors. The sitters can be taken in any attitude and any place, in an arbor or on the rocks, in a forest or on the ocean, under a parasol or amid a drenching rain. 'Each patron is numbered, and a negative will keep a hun- dred years. Should a sitter who is traveling in Europe desire pictures, he can send his name across the Atlantic, and the order will be immediately executed. Many families, whose members have suddenly died, have the satisfaction of securing a correct likeness of their friend from the negative preserved. Some of the finest life-size likenesses in existence are from Bogar- dus' gallery. Among these may be named the elegant picture of Professor Morse, the classic head of Bryant, and the accurate likenesses of the ministers of the Collegiate Church, which hang in the Pulton Street Church. Among the most important services which Bogardus has rendered to the art of photography, was the for- mation of the National Photographic Association. He presided at its birth, and at five annual gatherings was elected President by acclamation. The eminent men in the profession came together and founded what has proved to be a Photographic Academy of Design. In the annual address of 1871, President Bogardus graphically grouped together the benefits conferred by the asso- ciation. It lifted photography out of a rut, enabled artists to compare their work, created a desire to excel, BOGABDUS, TEE PEOTOQEAPHEB. 135 crushed burdensome and unjust monopolies, brought , Europe and America together, made posturing a pro- fession, and delivered artists from the extortions and uni'easonable demands from their patrons. Selfish and unjust men secured patents on chemicals, which ought to be as common as the sunlight. With these patents they annoyed the profession, and interfered with the success of the art. The most obnoxious of these was the bromide patent. The national association, led by Mr. Bogardus, resolved to break up this monopoly. To accomplish this, funds were needed, and the influ- ence of able counsel was demanded. Mr. Bogardus advanced his check for five hundred dollars, and went to Washington with a vigorous committee, and the ob- noxious monopoly was abolished. Mr. Bogardus is among the oldest photographic artists of New York. There are a few of those who started with him, thirty, years ago, that remain in the profession. He has lived to see the art he loved so well, elevated to the position of a science. The crude, coarse counterfeits of the human face that marked the early days of the art, have passed away ; a better class of work and a better class of Avorkraen are de- manded ; fewer pictures are made, and better ones. In this, as in other departments, talented men, artistic m"en, men who live to excel, are the useful men. All over the land and across the sea, wherever art is honored, Bogardus' name is known, and the eminent services he has rendered to photography are acknowl- edged. Mr. Bogardus has a remarkable presence. He is of commanding stature, finely proportioned, with a bright eye and an expression of countenance that wins the confidence of all who approach him. He appears as he is, the master of his position, and, with a desire to please, blends great dignity of manner. He has few 136 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. equals as a presiding officer. His wit and humor are- magnetic. He has great ability as a presiding offi(!er, keeps convention close to its work, can smooth down the asperities of debate, keep the elements in harmony, and causes good fellowship to abound. Withal he is dignified and cheery, and is personally one of che most popular men in the State. His success, covering the lifetime of a generation, lies on the surface. He selected a profession suited to his taste, which he has followed without faltering through good and evil re- port. He early resolved to be first-class in his profes- sion, and was never satisfied unless he was improving. He studied everything about his art that could make him intelligent, and his industry never flagged. He gave personal attention to his business, and never trusted his work to strangers. His work needs no guarantee, and his integrity has never been questioned. Daily in his gallery, corner of Broadway and Eigh- teenth street, he attends personally to his sitters, and welcoming all who desire his attention. LXI. THE HOUSE OF LAWRENCE. HIS famous mercantile house in Boston was founded by Amos. He was reared on a farm in Groton. He sought business in Boston. From an errand-boy in a store, he began trading in a small way. He was not as poor at the start as common rumor has presented. He had a capi- THE HOUSE OF LAWBEFOE. 137. tal of one thousand dollars. This was secured from his father, who mortgaged the old homestead to obtain the money. This was only a loan, but if it had not been paid the old homestead would have been ruined. After Amos had commenced business, Abbott joined his brother in Boston in 1808, and as the custom was, bound himself to his brother as an apprentice. Amos had previously served as apprentice seven years in a store, and he had twenty dollars in his pocket when he opened business in 1807. In those early Puritan times, commercial clerks and shop-boys were in peculiar peril. Everybody drank, — principals, subordinates and errand-boys, — and the dram known as the " eleven o' clock " and the "four o'clock" were drunk with the same regularity that the dinner was eaten. Traders who bought a bill of goods were treated. The language of the bargain was— so much and the drinks. All hands smoked, took snuff, and played cards during business hours. Young Amos found the appetite for strong drink growing upon him. He had moral sense enough to see the drift of things, and put a stop on it. He took a vow to let the cup pass by him at eleven o'clock and four o'clock for one week. He extended the vow for one month, and then made it iiiial. He bought gallons of liquors for mer- chants, but drank none himself to the day of his death. He had a large share of New England thrift, a sturdy, independence and a disposition to copy nobody. He kept an accurate account of his expenses, his profits, and his losses, from the start. Long credits and un- limited credits were the fashion of the day. He stur- dily refused at any time to owe more than forty pei cent, on his stock. Amos Lawrence attributed his solid fortune to the disappointments of his first year. He made up his mind that his profits in the" twelve months would be 138 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. four thousaud dollars. He was deeply mortified to find his balance only one thousand. This threw him back on himself. He increased his hours of work, cut down his store expenses, cut oflf all superfluities per- sonal to himself, refused to go into company, and gave himself up thoroughly and resolutely to business. His habits of diligence, economy, and thrift, that he brought to this dark period of his career, attended him through life. He closed the second year of his busi- ness career with the coveted earning of four thousand dollars. His own words are: "Had I made four thousand dollars the first year I should probably have failed in the third." The year 1814 was an especially black one for trade. Prices of goods were ruinously low, the shrinkages fearful, and the more goods a merchant had on his shelves the more certain he was to be ruined. Abbott was discouraged, and proposed to leave the concern. This was the turning-point in the lives of these two eminent men. The dissolution was not effected, and Abbott was sent to England to look after the business of the House. The letters written by Amos to his brother while in London, would make valuable read- ing for business young men. The corner-stone of this house was punctuality and exactness always, and sterling honor and integrity in all things. Amos was a large giver, and he regulated his donations on a perfect system. He set apart a percentage of his earnings for beneficent and religious purposes. At his death he left a mercantile name honored in all parts of the world. Those to whom the name and fortune of the Lawrences were transmitted reversed the honorable rules on which the house was founded. A short period carried this great house under a cloud from which it will never emerge. PADDLE TOUR OWN GANOE. 139 LXII. PADDLE YOUR OWN CANOE. |HIS is a PEOVEEB, popular among the working people of Europe, indicative of independ ence, and the necessity for men to help them- selves. It is seldom that a man gets any- good from his relatives in a matter of business. The old saw, uttered three thousand years ago :^" Go not to thy brother's house in the day of calamity," is good for to-day. Relationships and f riendshijis hinder more than they help. Critics are the poorest judges, and literary men are the most unjust toward literary men of any class. The songs and ballads that have come down to us from former generations, and that are popular now, were universally condemned by the self- styled learned of their day. We should have ,had nothing worthy of being read if the critics could have had their day. Authors were stubborn, and refused to burn their manuscripts. Their sturdy self -in depend- ence sustained them and they were able to "Paddle their own canoe." This the history of literature proves. A Bishop of the Church of England denounced Paradise Lost as a " Blasphemous book written by one Milton, who has been struck blind ;" inferential! y, struck blind for his blasphemy. Nobody but Johnson saw anything in the Vicar of Wakeiield ; no publisher would touch it ; the critics derided it ; and it came near going under the grate. A publisher took it because Johnson said, ' ' Poor Goldy must not starve. ' ' He kept it two years before he had courage to print it, and it 140 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. was predicted that it would fall still-born from the press. De Foe gathered his literary friends into his garden at Stoke-Newington, to hear him read the sheets of Robinson Crusoe. They laughed him to scorn, and advised him to throw the foolish thing into the fire, — a story which has outstripped everything in popularity, except the Bible and Pilgrim's Progress. Mason, a mean-spirited poet, nearly persuaded G-ray to destroy his Elegy. The claims of Sir John Franklin, as an Arctic explorer, only excited ridicule. In stature he was under-sized, his sight was imperfect, and his abilities accounted small. An explorer^ he purposed to be. In his marriage contract a clause was inserted, that his wife should not interfere with his visits to the North Pole. Cowper was written down a failure when his first effusions were printed. But for Johnson' S in- terference, his early p^^blications would have involved him in commercial ruin. Bun yan' s best friends advised him to destroy Pil- grim' s Progress. Such a travesty on religion would ruin his reputation for piety. The dreamer refers to this advice : " Some said, 'John, print it;' otliers said 'No.' Some said it might do good; others said ' Nob so. » 1) Fulton, on the eve of his great discovery, was ac- counted a lunatic, and was starving in Paris. He failed in the exhibition of a panorama, and was thrown into prison. Chancellor Livingston came to him in his distress^paid his debts — purchased a steam boiler, and sent it home under the charge of Fulton, who passed all his hours on shipboard in mastering the intricacies of that wonderful machine. Me. Shiel was black-balled by the London Aca- demical Society. He resisted the injustice and stood PADDLE TOUR OWN CANOE. 141 his ground. He lived to read himself as the Hon. Richard Lawlor Shiel, Grand Orator of the A'cademi- cal Society. Groldsmith's friends, as they could do nothing else, attempted to introduce him to orders. He appeared before the bishop in red plush breeches, and to the question: "Can you accept the Thirty-nine Articles?" replied, "Oh, yes ; forty, if your lordship pleases." Johnson refused wine. " I can drink to ex- cess ; I can abstain ; but I can't drink a little." There was a dark room in St. James's Palace known as " hell," where gambling was caMed on. Pitt was in- fatuated with the passion for play. He saw he must abandon gambling or yield a desire to rise in the State. He flung his cards in the fire and vowed he would never enter that hell again. That resolution saved him. Like the young men of his day, Wilberforce was fond of play. He kept the faro bank one night, and saw a poor wretch blow his brains out. He took an oath never again to gamble, and started upon his high ca- reer. Dk Wayland used to tell of a student who kept school in vacation, and kept a very poor one. His ex- cuse was, that he intended not to be a schoolmaster but a lawyer. The poor schoolmaster made a very poor lawyer. Webster made the best chowder in the State, on the principle that he would not be second class in anything. The Duke of Marlborough was pro- nounced a failure as a soldier and ordered into retire- ment. He insisted that he was right. The nation re- versed the opinion of his superiors. He became the great captain of the age, upheld the British banner in the darkest hour of battle, and the Marlborough house, from corner-stone to turret, is ornamented with pictures illustrating his victories. 143 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. Feawklin worked wliile other boys spent their time in idle sports. The money they spent in beer he spent in books. He pledged himself against strong drinks, and lived frugally. While working at the press he found ample time for severe study. The Spectator gave him style ; De Foe on Projects made him an inventor ; Mather on Doing Good made him a philanthropist ; Lpcke and Zenophon made him a philosopher ; and the Bible made him a Christian. After BuEKE had delivered his matchless.oration on Warren Hastings, and England was filled with his praise, his brother Richard said : "I wonder how Ned contrived to monopolize the talent of the family. Then I remember when we boys were carousing, Ned was always at study." Abeaham Lincolw was postmaster of the little village of New Salem. He was hard pressed for money just as the collector came round to receive the balance for the Government. A friend, who knew the young postmaster, offered him a loan. He took down an old stocking, and poured out seventeen dollars and sixty cents in copper coin, the exact sum due the Govern- ment, and the exact amount received for postage. With a twinkle in his eye he turned to his friend and said : ' ' What do I want of money ? I never use Govern- ment money for personal purposes." That was the key-note of his life. Aeioc Wewtwoeth was the largest marble-worker of Boston. He began in a smaU way and worked him- self up to a millionaire. When a young man he bought a horse, and paid the then great price of seven hundred dollars. " That horse will fail you," men said. " No mechanic can drive a seven-hundred-dollar horse, and PADDLE TOUB OWN CANOE. 14S prosper." The animal developed into a marveloas trotter. He proved a perfect road horse, gentle, relia- ble and easy to handle. Wentworth was offered a large sum for him, and everybody said : " Sell him, sell him; you will never have another such offer." "No man in Boston has money enough to buy the Vermont Boy," the sturdy marble-man said. "He is worth three thousand dollars to me in my business. I draw the reins over an intelligent and reliable horse. No man can pass me on the road, and every business man of Boston knows me and my team." Haeeison was a machinist in Philadelphia. He worked at the bench, and was noted for his civility. A party of gentlemen visited the establishment one day, and in the absence of the chief, Harrison did the hon- ors. He threw everything open, and answered intel- ligibly all questions asked. The chief expressed his surprise at the courtesy shown the strangers, saying they found it very difficult to get access to other manu- factories. A card was handed to the young mechanic, with the request that he call on the gentleman in the evening. The visitors were a commission sent out by the Emperor of Russia to acquaint themselves with the machinery of America. An offer was made to the young man to return with the embassy to Riissia. He made a contract that night that won him both fame and fortune. He carried his courtesy and capacity to a good market. Wellibtgton on the battle-field, looked first after his horse, — his life might depend upon him. Next he looked after his men, — he might need them before morning. Theii he took care of himself. His little iron camp-bed to the last occupied a little closet off from his library where he slept. A lady visitor ex- 144 , SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. pressed her surprise one day, at the narrowness of the little trundle-bed, saying : "There is not room enough in that bed to turn." The Iron Duke replied, "Madam, when a man turns in bed it's time to turn out." The war office complained when he was in the field, that Ms dispatches said nothing about his plans, but were filled with complaints about rice and bullocks. ■ An answer came back : ' ' My dispatches are short because I've nothing to say. With rice and bullocks I get men ; with men I beat the enemy." When he was at the head of the Government, a friend asked the Iron Duke : — ' ' Did you utter the gasconade at Waterloo : ' Up guards, and at them?'" "No. It was a dark and anxious hour. I had done all that was possible to secure a vic- tory. I felt that the issue must be left to the Great Disposer of Events ; I swept the field with my glass and saw the hour had come. I said, ' Let the column advance.' " Brewtawo had an extraordinary career. He is the most singular specimen of a business man in New York. Statuaries might copy his head ; attached to this is a body shockingly deformed. He is under-sized, with hands cramped and disfigured by disease. He was born in the Tyrol, and landed on our soil poor and friendless. He bought a few papers and sold them, lodged' where he could, and took his food where he could find it the cheapest. Ill-fed, hard-worked, with bare feet i)inched with the cold, he sat on a curb-stone in front of the New York Hotel offering his wares. Cranston had pity on the deformed suffering lad, and on cold* and stormy nights allowed him to warm him- self in the halls of the hotel. He scraped together three hundred dollars, and set up business ; his part- ner stole the capital, and ran away. Brentano fell back on selling papers. A friend advised him to take BDWABD bVsBETT. 145 a better class of periodicals, and strike for Wall Street. He purchased the best European and American picto- rials, and secured customers. He made a point of Iseing the first in the field, and when he opened a paper- store, lie served Ms patrons before he sold a paper •across the counter. He soon obtained a profitable run of business. The poor, deformed boy, who warmed himself, as a charity, at the hotel registers, is now a millionaire, and for many years occupied a splendid suite of apartments in the same public house before whose doors he cried his wares. LXIII. EDWARD EVERETT. |R. EVERETT'S history is an uninteresting one. There are few elements in it that can be of any service to young men. He was a brilliant rhetorician, and had he been so dis- posed, future generations would have been benefited by his writings. His Ledger papers were the tamest of periodical literature. Instead of being worthy, as they should have been, of a republication in all the school- books of the land, they passed at once out of the mem- ory of the generation. He was fitted for the ministry, and a boy of nineteen he was settled over the most im- portant congregation in Boston. During his brief min- isterial career he shone as a star. He had a voice of marvelous compass and sweetness. He cultivated the graces of oratory, and committing his sermons to mem-. 10 146 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. ory, he poured forth his impassioned utterances to the delight of crowded audiences. In the height of his popularity he turned his steps toward Harvard College, and informed the Faculty that he could no longer oc- cupy the pulpit, but must have the position of tutor, and trust the future for something better. He married a rich man's daughter, and all incentive to work was removed from him. His wealth and social position led to that easy, desultory point-no-p6int sort of life which marked him. He enjoyed the luxury of learned lei- sure, an. indulgence that so often paralyzes a man's en- ergies. He entered political life on a side issue, during the Masonic excitement. He was fond of place and honor ; a timid man ; following, but never a leader. He filled nearly every office in the gift of the State, but was never popular, and when taken, was taken as a neces- sity. He opposed the nomination of General Scott, but would not join Mr. Webster's friends ; yet he was willing to lend his name to the Bell and Everett clique against his party. He was appointed an elector with- out its being known whether he was even favorable to the election of Mr. Lincoln. LXIV. WILSON'S STRUGGLES. R. WILSON'S early career is worthy the study of American young men. He was more of hero while he was struggling for a position, than after he obtained it. He was never a statesman, and outside of slavery and temper- WILSOJf^'S aTBUQGLES. 147 ance, he was unable to discuss any of the great ques- tions of the hour. The theories on which he arose he accepted when they were unpopular, and adhered to them unwaveringly through all his life. He was the leader of the Free-soil party, which coalesced with the Democrats, and overthrew the Whig reign. The coali- tion was siiccessful and carried Mr. Wilson into the chair of the Massachusetts Senate, and from thence into the position of presiding officer in the United States Senate. He was born in 1812, and at ten was bound out to a farmer. One holiday and three cents in money were all he received until he 'v^as twenty-one years of age. With his freedom he started out to earn his living. A farmer gave him work at six dollars a month. His own story is thus graphically told : "I used to get up long before daylight, feed the ' stock, get breakfast, and just as the East was beginning to be streaked with red, start off for the woods with my team. I used to place my dinner-pail on the sunny side of a tree, and continue drawing saw-logs to the mill until after dark. Then I went home, fed the stock, ate my supper, and went to bed. My father tended the saw-mill most of the time for many years for fifty cents a day. In the spring of the sam j year I took my pack on my back, and started afoot for the town where I now live, — Natick, Mass., — one !iundred miles away, and that journey cost me just one dollar and twenty-five cents. I worked there at shoemaking, averaging fifteen hours a day, and the last week's work I did at the bench, was bottoming shoes at five dollars a week. Out of this I paid fifty cents for pegs, and two dollars for board, so that I had left just two dol- lars and fifty cents. I have bottomed fifty- four pairs of men's shoes without sleeping, and that for a little more than fifty cents. But even at this rate I got some money ahead, and made up my mind to work my way 148 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. through, college. I lent my money to a man in Boston, and went to the academy at Concord, N", H. I had been there only six months, when the man to whom I intrusted my fortune failed, and I lost all. I was so reduced that, although I owed for two or three weeks' board, I was absolutely unable to pay it, or even to take a letter from the post-office without borrowing money to pay the postage. But a friend invited me to remain and board with him, and pay him when I was able. So I stayed through the term, and in the win- ter earned money enough to pay him, by teaching school." Men, like some vessels, weather the gale, and roll their masts overboard in a calm. Mr. Wilson showed but little wisdom in his high position, and no statesman- ship. He early conceived the idea that the succession was in his hands, and must be taken care of. He had the presidency on the brain. His friends encouraged the idea, and at some of their cosy club dinners in Boston, actually nominated him as president. He regarded Gen. Grant as a rival, and turned white at the specter of the third term. He got terribly excited if any one suggested that he was not well, and when he should have been shut up in a sick-room under the care of a doctor, he was tearing over the country, from Maine to Florida, dashing from the Hudson to Missis- sippi to convince people that he was well. He had no influence with the Government, from his indiscriminate use of his name and letters. Butler loved to tease him. Wilson complained one day that his letters were not attended to, and he couldn' t get any appointments for his friends. Butler. replied that he had obtained from the administration everything he had asked for. WU- son went to the president, and complained of the unfair treatment. Gen. Grant showed Mr. Wilson that he had had over. thirty appointments — that if he JOMN qUINOT ADAMS. 149 should appoint every one to an office that brought let- ters from Mr. Wilson, there would be none for anyone else. Butler had got all he asked. He had asked a small appointment in the navy yard, to which he was clearly entitled, and got it. I was sitting one day in the private secretary's office at the White House wait- ing for a Cabinet meeting to break up. A lady, expen- sively dressed, came in, said she had a letter from Mr. Wilson, and wanted to see the president on important business. She said she had a carriage at the door, hired by the hour, and she might as well ride, while waiting for the preteident to be disengaged, as to have the carriage stand still. In an hour the lady came back, had an interview, and the important business, that justified an introduction to the president from the vice-president of the United States, was a proposal to borrow one hundred dollars. LXV. JOHN QUmOY ADAMS. NDUSTRY was the corner-stone of John Quincy Adams' success. He earned his liv- ing when a lad by riding post between Braintree and Boston. He was appointed private secretary to his father, when he was twelve years of age, and accompanied him to France. Through all his public career, he was one of the mosb economical and thrifty of men. While Secretary of State, he built a dwelling in Washington, divided it into two tene- 150 SUCGESSFUL FOLKS. ments, and reserved a right to occupy both parlors at a levee. During all his public life he was an early riser, building his own fire at four o'clock in the morn- ing. He walked to the capitol daily, and was in his seat for prayers. He attended church regularly, through storm and sunshine. I saw him one Sunday wade knee-deep through the snow, to show his good will to the preacher. His library was his work-shop. A plain square room, with shelves lining every side loaded down with books. His table was of pine, cov- ered with green baize, and filled with manuscripts, letters, papers, and general litter. His ink-stand was of Revolutionary pattern, ancient and heavy. He wrote an angular, cramped, heavy hand, with a quill pen. I heard him say : "I am not orthodox according to the standard of the Presbyterian Church, but I am not as far from it as many suppose. As I advance in years, I feel more and more distrust of all self -formed opinions on religion. I throw myself back on the simple word of God. I receive what that teaches. I go where that leads. I enjoy the worship of the Presbyterian Church. I am edified by its ministry." LXVI. HARVEY D. PARKER. HE Parker House, Boston, is one of the best known hotels in New England. It was founded by the gentleman whose name it bears. Parker began as a waiter in a small restaurant on Court street. He set up business for HABVEY D. PARKER. 151 himself in a basement, on the corner of Court square. He spread his own table, and served his own customers. He is a millionaire now ; but I've seen him with his ooat off, sleeves rolled up, white apron on, broiling, steak, and placing it rich and juicy on the plates of his guests. After years of honest hard work and suc- cess, he outgrew his quarters, and built his elegant hotel. He has made his house famous in all parts of the world.. It's the great exchange of Boston, and the annual profits are estimated at a quarter of a million. Parker is a general favorite. He gives his customers just what they ask for, and his liberality has earned him a golden harvest. Any man who becomes a pop- ular favorite is sure of success. The favorite preacher has ten thousand a year and a quartette choir. A popular lecturer can farm himself out for forty thou- sand a year. A star singer can get a guinea a note. Some people cater to the public taste ; they resolve , to put a hat on every man' s head ; a coat on every man' s back; a box of pills in every man's stomach; shoes on every man's feet; a box of soap in every one's laundry; and a newspaper at every man's table. If the purpose is carried out, a fortune will be the result. Parker early won over the lawyers and judges of Boston. He furnished to his guests liquor when they wanted it. The Maine-law men harassed him year out and year in. It was one of the curious things in the en- forcement of the liquor law that juries were often try- ing Parker for selling liquor contrary . to law, and during the trial were eating his dinner with a " poney " of brandy thrown in. A peculiar trial took place, in which Parker was defendant. The Government broke d-own in its prosecution, for want of proof. Those who drank at Parker's bar would not peach, and each main pretended not to know what he was drinking. At length a witness was found ; he had drank at Parker's 152 SUCOMSSFUL FOLKS. bar, had paid for his liquora, and was willing to swear to it. The man was put on the stand. Parker, the old war-horse of the court, as district-attorney began: "Do you know Parker?" "I do." "Did you ever drink at his bar? " "Yes." "Pay for it?" "Yes." " Did you drink brandy ? " "No." "Gin?" "No." "Rum?" "No." "What did you call for?" "Prank Pierce." "What did you get?" "Frank Pierce." "Was it drawn from a cask?" "It was." "Was there anything on the cask?" "Yes, several things." "Name one!" " Otard brandy." "Oho! Then you drank Otard brandy." "No! T drank Prank Pierce." "Now teU the court and jury why you believe Otard brandy was not in the cask when the name was on the outside." "Well, J. D. and M. Williams were on the cask, but I don't think those gentlemen were inside." Amid roars of laughter the witness stepped down. LXVII. ANECDOTES OF EMINENT FOLKS. LL men have not the same gifts, and do not prosper in the same manner. Men must be content with positions suitable to their tal- ents. Men make positions ; positions don' t make men. You can't degrade a first-class man by putting him in a menial office. A third-rate man is the same, though he accidentally' stand in a first-rate position. The more intelligent a man is in his calling, AMECDOTEa OF EMINENT FOLKS. 153 other things being equal, the higher he will rise. In every trade and profession there are swarms of ordin- ary men. Talented men are rare. The ability and scholarship of our colleges are low. Out of a thousand graduates not a dozen will be eminent. Dr. Ware said that he had students studying theology that were so stupid, that when they stole a sermon, they always stole a dull one. England has only one great soldier at a time. In an army of a thousand men, one hun- dred might handle a regiment ; fifty, a brigade ; twenty, a division ; not two in the thousand could conduct a campaign. One hundred men in a mercantile house make a good living in subordinate positions, who could not carry on business for themselves. Stewart wel- comed to his store men who failed elsewhere, if they failed without dishonor. Each had a circle of friends, and could do for him what they could not do for them- selves. In a great mercantile house the man who seems to have nothing to do is the brains of the house. With- out him the establishment would come crashing down. He walks about, seemingly without purpose. Up-stairs, down-stairs, this way and that. He knows the price of gold, the rate of exchange, the run of the market, and the value of men. He knows what grade is full and what is lacking. His orders are sharp, like a pilot on the coast: "Fill your orders." "Take no more." "Keep up your line." "Stop buying." "Don't send those goods out." These sentences in- dicate commercial ability — they are worth gold. Business men come into straits, as ships founder on sunken rocks. They develope character, good and bad, that astonishes their friends. You can judge very slightly of a man by what he says or what he does. The ridiculous story of John Gilpin was written by Cowper in one of his blackest fits of dejection, when he meditating suicide. La Fontaine, one of the purest of 154 .SUOCBBSS'UL FOLKS. men, filled Ms writings with impurity and intrigue. -Oervantes, pining in a loathsome dungeon, wrote his ■comical adventures of Don Quixote. Sterne allowed his mother to starve while he Was drawing tears from the eyes of the public, by describing the agony of a dying mule. Swift filled the whole world with the praises of two unfortunate girls, whose fame and hap- piness he blasted. Petrarch refined his race as an author, and deserted and neglected his fanlily. Zim- mermann was eloquent in praise of benevolence ; yet his tyranny drove one son to madness, and one daughter to infamy. Gibbon subscribed to Episcopacy, and balanced his life between Infidelity and Rome. Marco Polo wrote his marvelous stories in a dungeon at Pisa. The beautiful measures of Sellachio were penned while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. Blackstone wrote his Commentaries in the Temple, with a bottle of port at his side, while Goldsmith and his boon com- panions held their revels over his head. Thompson, while writing his Castle of Indolence, lounged in the garden of his friends, biting off the sunny side of peaches. The son of Chesterfield, to whom he ad- dressed the celebrated letters on politeness, and whom he proposed the make the first gentleman in England, was the great sloven of the age, helping himself at a public table with his fingers, and licking his plate with his tongue. The Iron Duke was a great martinet in religion. He believed in the book of common prayer. He be- lieved in the articles of war. He was the guest of Wadsworth at Mount Drydal. On retiring for the iiight, the Duke was informed thkt prayers would be read in the morning. He was in his place with military precision. Wadsworth read from Thornton's CoUec- ANECDOTES OF EMINENT FOLKS. 155 I tions. At the close Wellington said: "Yon have fancy prayers, I see," and lie never came again. Scarcely two eminent men have the same peculiari- ties. Moore bought no books, but read from the pub- lic library v^hen he read at all. The small library he ■owned was filled with presentation copies, from au- thors whose names were on the fly-leaf. Rogers was very kind and considerate to poor writers. He saved the National Academy from extinction by his royal gifts. Schiller could only write when under the stimulus of strong coffee, and he composed at mid- night. TuUy dictated to his attendant under the influ- ence of snuff. Salaro composed in the street with pen and pencil in hand while eating bonbons. Haydn before he composed touched the ring Frederick the €rreat gave him. Mozart gathered inspiration from ten-pins, and Beethoven from solitude. Theodoke Pakker was at one time the most popu- lar platform speaker in Boston. The Music Hall con- gregation numbered two thousand. He informs us that during all the years of his ministry, only two hundred people contributed anything to his support. Joanna Baillie was Wadsworth's model of an English woman ; yet she was insignificant in appear- ance, small in stature, with a mean, shuffling gait — but sensible, vivacious, and gentle. Madame De Stael, without apology, received her company in bed, with face like a person in undress. She did most of h^r writing in bed. Mrs. Walter Scott was Frenchy, thin, and spare. She was a capital housekeep'er, trained well her children, advised her husband, and left literary matters to him. Lady Mary Montague was celebrated for being dirty as a child, and filthy as a woman. She 156 8UGCE88FUL FOLKS. carried painting to sucli an excess thAt.she was often put into a warm bath and scraped by her servahts. Soms of her letters are so broad that they could not, to-day, be read in polite society. De. Haevet was persecuted almost unto death, for his now famous work on the circulation of the blood. His practice fell off, the mob chased him through the streets, and his life was threatened. For thirty years his theory has been universally adopted. PoBSON, the great linguist, used the plainest Saxon. When in conversation he used a foreign lan- guage he translated it. Campbell's father inspired him with a love for naval songs. An old harper sang at his father's hearth-stone, "Poor Dog Tray," and from it came the ballad, "Brittania needs no Bul- warks." Walpole drew a sad picture of Groldsmith's clos- ing hours. The poet was poor and forsaken. He lay sick of a purple fever on a flock bed, deserted by all of his gay friends and literary companions. But for an old charwoman, he would have died in absolute want, without an acquaintance to close his eyes. The celebrated actress, Fannie, had the short sum- mer day allotted to a brilliant comedian. She was brought down with a stroke of apoplexy. She lay on her poor couch, without food, medicine, or attendants. Her dying words were : "I am deserted and neglected whom all the world worshiped." Johnson ate like a starved man ; till his appetite was satisfied, he was wholly engrossed vnth his food. His veins swelled, and perspiration ran down his face. His diet would have killed most men. He poured ANECDOTES OF BMINENT FOLKS. 157 melted- butter into his chocolate, and emptied boats of lobster-sauce over his plum-pudding. He took his breakfast in bed, no matter who his host might be ; ate at the table with his fingers, beat the servants, and kept the house in a turmoil. Dk. Channiwg took his drift toward liberalism when he was ten years of age. He heard a sermon from Dr. Hopkins on the judgment. It greatly ex- cited the young; man, who thought that if that doctrine was true, his preparation should at once be made. The conduct of the father that night had a life-long influence on the son. The elder Channing said nothing about the sermon ; removed his boots on entering his house ; called for his paper, and sat down to read. William Ellery concluded that his father did not believe one word of the sermon, and he would trouble himself no more about it. De. Dewey was a charity scholar, and was carried through his education by the ladies of Dr. Spring's church at Newburyport. He was on a visit to Dr. Sprague, of Springfield. The doctor sent him to Boston on an errand. Dewey made the acquaintance of Dr. Buckminster and other leading Unitarians. On his return to Springfield he found Dr. Sprague sick in his bed. During family prayer he leaned over and whis- pered in Dr. Sprague' s ear that he entertained doubts about the Trinity. A conversation revealed the fact that he had gone clear over. He formally united with the Unitarians and became one of the shining lights of the sect. David Madole was a roadside blacksmith. A carpenter called on him one day for a hammer, "as good a one as could be made. '' ' 'Will you pay for it, ' ' 158 SU0CE88FUL FOLKS. said the blacksmith, "and pay my price?" The car- penter said he would. Before sundown six workmen ordered each a hammer. The village storekeeper on the same day ordered two dozen. When they were delivered, a New York merchant was in town, and he left an order. The fame of Madole's hammers from that hour traveled over the land. The roadside black- smith became famous ; for twenty-nine years he kept up, and kept at his work. His hammers are known all over the civilized world. He has no rivals, and no competitors. The market has no effect upon him ; he never made a poor hammer. He never asked an unfair price. Me. Tileston was of the well-known firm of Spof- ford & Tileston. He came from Cape Cod, a poor boy, in search of employment. He took a seat on a shoe- maker's bench, earned a living and laid up a little money. He opened in a small way, a coast-wise trade, He was reliable, attentive, prompt and honorable. The house was a small one, but merchants spoke well of it. An agent attempted to start a steamship line between Charleston and New York. No one among the mer- chants would touch .it. One man said : "Spofford & Tileston want business ; perhaps they will be consign- ees." It was a lucky day for the young firm. A con- tract was entered into which resulted in a fortune. When the Ceown Peince and his cousin moved the German army, Moltke was scarcely known to the military world. The campaign exhibited a vigor and a wisdom that indicated an able and an experienced head. The two princes were admitted to be good soldiers, but they had no such ability as was displayed by the military movements of the hour. A sharp watch was put upon the G-erman headquarters. In the AimCDOTES OF FAMOUS FOLKS. . 15» rear was a tent occupied by an old man ; his table was covered with maps and drawings, and the German commanders made a nightly visit to this mysterious^ person. In a few months the name of Moltke was known throughout the world. Samuel J. Mills, of hay-stack memory, was the son of an old preacher, known as Father Mills. He was a sort of missionary in and around Springfield. In his day drinking was one of the fine-arts. No one was or- dained, baptized or buried, unless the social cup went round. There was a famous tavern on father Mills' s route, where he rested. Sling was a popular drink — half and half — a gill of water and a gill of rum. The preacher said : " Make me a sling, Mr. Jones, and put in a half a gill of rum." Instead of being weaker than usual, it seemed stronger. After the glass was emptied, the preacher turned to the tavern-keeper and said : " Mr. Jones, how much Jamaica did you put into my sling?" "I put in what you told me to put in. I made the sling, and then added half a gill of rum." " Mr. Jones, please bring up my horse." Mb. Dimmock when he was thirty-six years of age became one of the lions of Wall street. He came suddenly to the front and was one of the most daring^ speculators. At the start he worked for two hundred and fifty dollars a year as a clerk. He became a gold operator, and was distinguished for his success. The story was that he cleared five hundred thousand dol- lars in one transaction. He lost in one stock in a day over one million. He then turned to real estate,, operating on the same gigantic scale. Like Stewart, he resolved to build up a town. Besides his mansion costing him half a million, he settled a minister on speculation, and proposed to establish a church on the 160 aUCOESSFUL FOLKS. same glittering basis. Of course the whole thing was a grand failure. The life of the boy Antoine is a very romantic one. He was heir to an ancient name. He was born at Cremona, and near his home was a quaint old work- shop of Nicholas Amati. In this house the famous violins had been made for over a century. The boy Antoine was fascinated with the sweet sound of the €remonas. He would do no business, but hung around the old work-shop. He was filled with joy when the master accepted him as an apprentice. The boy was sensitive, delicate, and artistic. He soon mastered every branch of the trade. At the age of twenty-six he left the work-shop to set up for himself. He startled the world by daring to change both the size and form of the famous instniment, adding to the power, while he retained the original sweetness. He departed at the age of ninety-three, having attained .fame and fortune, and left his secret with his son. There is nothing more delusive than the G-lamor or Riches. Great men when analyzed usually prove to be very small men. Their fame usually hangs on a very slender thread. They came into notice by some sudden turn or some simple event which they did their best to avert. Celsus, the renowned prototype of Paine, lived in the third century. He would have been wholly unknown, but for the notice Origen takes of him in his apology for the faith. Mahomet dictated the Koran when he could neither read nor write. It was written on bones and skins, and produced at vari- ous times to suit an emergency. Saint Athanasius was a small, slender, spare man, and passed a stormy life between ovations and disgrace. As Arians repeated the Apostles' Creed, he issued his famous creed as a bulwark against Unitarianism. A summer residence ANECDOTES OF EMINENT FOLKS. 161 on the Seine, built by Julian the Apostate, was really the foundation of the city of Paris. He took a vow to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem to falsify the predic- tion of the Saviour. In the fatal battle with the Per- sians he was pierced with a javelin. He drew out the fa- tal bolt, stained with his blood, shook it toward the sky, and shouted : "Oh, Galileean ! thou hast conquered," and fell in death. Constantine was defender of the faith, sat among the bishops, and decided the miracles and mysteries of the Gospel. Yet he was not a pro- fessor of religion. He was baptized on his death-bed, by the Bishop of Nicomedia. Cromwell died a ruler of England, and was buried in the tombs of the kings. He was disinterred by order of the Government, and his body subjected to every mark of indignity. His head was cut off and stuck on a pole at Temple Bar. His mutilated body was hung in chains on a gibbet. At Tyburn, the most infamous part of London, a hole was dug, into which the bones of the great soldier were thrown, and in which his ashes now repose. Tyburn is now the most fashionable part of London. Near the dishonored grave of Cromwell, is the magnificent me- morial erected by the Queen to Prince Albert. A brass plate on the tomb of the kings still bears the name of Cromwell. The descendants of the Paritan ruler, and the descendants of Charles the First, inter- married in the fourth degree. Few persons succeed through genius or talent. These are valuable allies, but they are damaging when they usurp the place of solid labor and endurance. Versatility can do little for a man in the race for per- manent prosperity. It's no advantage to a man if he can turn his hand to anything. It a common saying that an English sailor can tie a knot only in one way, while a Yankee can knot a rope in a dozen ways. But 11 162 SUCCESSFUL POLKS. the Englisli knot never slips. The Archbishop of Can- terbury was a very modest, painstaking, hard-work- ing parish priest. So he promised to live and die. The cholera broke out in London, and the nurses^ panic-stricken, fled, leaving the poor to suffer. Dr. Tate and his wife commenced a visitation among the hovels of the lowly. They took the place of nurses and doctor. They went from cot to cot, administering tem- poral relief as well as medicines. This devotion touched the heart of the Queen, and she elevated the devoted and faithful priest to the noble position of Bishop of London. He never forgot the poor, and the same traits- that won him the mitre of London, made him primate of all England. A CoFFEE-HousE, Supported mainly by actors and actresses, who dined when most people went to, bed and retired when the busy day awoke London, cele- brated for its gay company and aromatic punch, was not exactly the place to look for a fortune. Yet one of the most eminent chancellors of the English bench took his first step toward the woolsack from Mando's Coffee House. He was a briefless lawyer without friends or home. He wrote a little for the papers, and thus obtained the run of one or two theaters. Out of pity he was asked occasionally to step into the coffee- room among the wits and actors of the times. A case was given to him which was utterly hopeless. He passed eight years of his life in intense toil — sometimes on the ,verge of starvation, and sometimes nearly mad with despair. To the astonishment of the bar and the world he won a verdict. The authorities he cited, precedents- and cases he hunted up, and the amount of learning he gathered was simply stupendous. On that solid foundation, amid those years of penury and toil, he built his claims to the chancellorship. ANECDOTES ^ OF EMINENT FOLKS. 163 Navoleon was a young soldier out of favor witli th.e Government and out of employment. He did a kind thing for Abbe Rayual, and the priest found him one night on the Grrand Plaza sullen, despondent and resolved to throw up his commission in the morning. The Abb6 took the young soldier by the arm, and led him into the salon of Madame De Stael. It was a brilliant party, and among the guests were Lafay- ette, Talleyrand and others. The city was thoroughly alarmed, being in the hands of the mob. The Bastile had fallen, the troops had fraternized with the mob, and society was unhinged. These outbreaks were dis- cussed with great animation. Napoleon was sil'ent. He was a sUm, grave, dark-looking youth, and mid the fiercest discussions not a muscle of his face moved. Turning to the Abb6, Madame De Stael said : "What does your young military friend think of all this?" Napoleon stepped forward and with great boldness an- nounced his views. He scouted the effeminate tempo- rizing views put forth to preserve peace. He answered, with the eloquence of later years, the arguments put forth by Lafayette and other eminent men of the party. " The government is powerless," he said, "because it's weak ; blood must flow ; the streets must be enfiladed. Grive me a park of artillery and I will govern Paris." His opinions flew over the city like electric light. The Committee of Safety called for him the next morning. He had work enough to do. He entered the party a nonentity, meditating suicide ; he left it the lion of the hour, having taken the first step toward the Empire. .. Erskine, the great English barrister, owed his rise to an accident. The path-way to eminence at the English bar was a rugged one. Erskine was a briefless barrister, with scarcely enough in his pocket to buy a frugal dinner. He was at a rural inn ; called for his 164 SU0CE88FUL FOLKS. frugal meal and soon devoured it. A stranger sat op- posite, with an elegant spread before him. Out of sheer fun, Erskine, one of the best talkists of the age, re- solved to entertain his companion, and see how far he could go without irritating him. The stranger was so delighted that he insisted that Erskine should share his meal, and inquired his profession. Erskine had wit enough to keep his poverty to himself. Strange enough, the man was in search of a barrister, and put a brief at once into the hands of his entertainer. He gave the young advocate more money as a retainer, thaij he ever saw before in his life. That single case elevated the poor lawyer into a prominent practice. No one who knew Disraeli's early life, would have promised him distinction in the government. He was a thorough coxcomb, "all fur, lace, and ruffles." Yet underneath the froth was the genuine liquor. Rubens always contended that he rose as a painter from his avarice. His table was lean and mean, and the gay crowd that led the talented in dissipation seldom crossed Rubens' threshold. He gave the time to labor that others spent in dissipation, and so made himself the artist of the age. Few Americans are as worthy of study as Silas Weight. The. office in which he studied law was a saw- mill. He began to practice before he had ever read the simplest elements of legal lore. He was an equity law- yer from necessity. He had that sense of justice which marked Washington, which led the very boys to abide by his judgment in their disputes. Clients came to him while he was sawing logs — nor did the miU rest for the consultations. He gave advice to all comers. He healed divisions among neighbors, re- moved family alienations, united husbands and wives, and advised everybody to settle their cases out of ANECDOTES OF EMINENT FOLKS. 166 court. He seldom charged over fifty cents, — the poor had nothing to pay. He took the fee from the miserly landlord, and gave it to the oppressed tenant. His fair- ness, candor, justice, and ability, spread his fame far and wide. Everybody talked of the young judge at the mill. He was so popular that when nominated for an office, in a district that was politically opposed to him, two to one, he received every vote except three, New York has had many honored in the United States Senate, but none more honored than Silas Wright. GrEKT. Scott had a quarrel with the Secretary of War. Every one was surprised when the Secretary accompanied Gen. Scott to the Canadian frontier. The Secretary said: "The country has no quarrel with Gren. Scott ; it needs his services, and he is too much of a patriot to allow private grievances to interfere with public duty." The Carolina affair had an ugly outlook. The presence of the head of the War De- partment and the General of the Army was required in Canada. -But more than once the Secretary was mortified that peace or war was in the hands of Gen. Scott. He would talk of nothing but Lundy's Lane, and his part in the war of 1812. He was conceited, dogmatic and supercilious. So the parties separated for the night. The Secretary could not sleep. He rose at four, but early as the hour was it found Gen. Scott stirring. He was another man, clear, simple, concise in his statements. He had a plan completely drawn, and appended to it was an answer to every question the Secretary of War had asked the day before. The plan for settling the difficulties needed no amend- ment. It was carried out, and was successful. The Secretary said : " Men that don't know Scott call him fuss and feathers, but with his sword drawn he is the bravest and ablest man I ever knew."' 166 8UGGE8.8FUL JOLES. The Sweets were natural bone-setters. The gift has descended to the third generation. No matter how men account for it they have a talent which amounts to inspiration in connection with human bones. A well - known merchant was thrown from his wagon, and broke his legs at the ankles. The bones were artisti- cally set, and a cure pronounced, yet the man could not walk. He lay for months on his bed unable to rise though the surgeon pronounced the cure complete. "Things can't be any worse," he said, and sent for Dr. Sweet. The rough surgeon entered the room — gave the patient a look in the face — threw up the bed- clothes at the foot, and said : "Your right hip is out of joint." He took the leg in his hand, gave a snap that sounded like the report of a pistol ; simply said as he left a lotion : " Bathe and walk." He turned from the house leaving the patient cured. De. Physio had a feeble bodily presence, and looked more like a lad in poor health than like the first surgeon of his age. Few got the advantage of him in repartee. He was once asked how he, a mere boy, felt when holding a consultation with six burly doctors, and replied: "I feel like a silver six- pence amid six coppers— worth the whole lot and a quarter over." When visiting patients he was often attended by his students. He visited an aristo- cratic patient whom it was difficult to control. He felt , of her pulse, and ordered her to run out her tongue, when he said : ' ' Madame, you have been eating oys- ters. If you again disobey my orders, I will throw up the case." On retiring, the astonished student said : " Could you tell by the looks of that woman's tongue, that she had been eating oysters f " No, you fool. I saw the shells under the bed ; you must keep your eyes open if you want to know anything in this world." ANECDOTES OF EMINENT FOLKS. 167 Phy sic looked so poorly, that it is said a lady once offered Mm a piece of bread and molasses, supposing he must be hungry. This incident will remind one of the banker Coutts. When he could draw his check for ten millions, he dressed as meanly as a porter. In the bluest cold weather he wore no overcoat, and his attenuated, tall, lean frame looked like the genius of famine. A kind-hearted mechanic saw him one morn- ing shuffling doAvn the Strand, and offered him a shil- ling. " I am not in immediate want," said the banker, as he shuffled on. When Fulton was residing in New York, the heads of the people were turned over the •discovery of perpetual motion. It was a practical fact ; any one could see the machine, by visiting a loft on Cedar street. As a practical mechanic, Fulton derided the idea, saying : "You can not have perpetual motion, till a man can pull himself up in his boots." At length he yielded to the entreaty of his friends to look on this marvelous piece of mechanism. The moment he heard the sound of the machinery, he exclaimed : "That's crank motion." His practiced ear detected at once the inequality of the motion. An axe was brought, the floor ripped up, the band brought to light, and the humbug exploded. I heard Daniel Webster say that he was once overreached by a Quaker who farmed him out. The Supreme Court was held once a year at Nantucket. The island was then occupied by wealthy merchants, whose wealth lay mainly in whale fishery. Though the court was held but a week, some of the heaviest cases were tried in Nantucket. A Quaker sought to retain Mr. Webster. The lawyer said he should de- mand a fee of one thousand dollars ; he would have to spend the week on the island ; would as soon argue the whole docket as one case. The Quaker 168 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. agreed to give Mr. Webster one 'thousand dollars on; condition that he would argue any case that he should present to him that preceded his own. The contract was signed between the parties. The Quaker went home and visited all the leading litigants, saying : "What will thee give me if I get the great Daniel Webster to argue thy case?" He drove the best, bargain he could, running his fees up from one hun- dred to five hundred dollars each. When Mr. Web- ster landed on the island, he found twelve cases waiting his attention. He argued them like a man, now for plaintiff, now for defendant ; now a verdict, now a de- feat. The Quaker won his suit, and he footed up the balance. It read: "Verdict and two thousand cash, after paying counsel fees and expenses." One morning a well-known merchant called on a friend as he was going down town. He wore a dilapi- dated look and appeared to be thoroughly demoralized. His friend expressed astonishment at his appearance. The exjjlanation was : " I have failed ; I' ve got to come to this, and I may as well begin to-day. " "I would not be a fool if I had failed. Go down town as you are and you' re ruined sure enough. Go home ; dress yourself in your best ; wear diamonds, if you've got any ; bring out your horses ; dash into the streets with your head up." The bankrupt had sense enough to see the value of this advice. As he drove past the windows Avhere the men sat who held his fate in their hands, they exclaimed : " Hello ! there goes Jones ; I don't think things are as bad with him as men said ; I guess he will come out ■■ all right." And he did. Dean Tillottson's forethought and shrewdness made him archbishop of Canterbury. He was dean of the church, and out of favor with James II. He was ANECBOTMS OF EMINENT FOLKS. 169 in such fear of Ms life that he went to sea. He had scarcely landed on his return, before William and Mary set foot on the British Isles. William needed nothing so much as money. The dean took all the silver he could collect from any and every source, melted it down as bullion, and introduced himself to the new ruler with this acceptable gift. The donation made a very favorable impression on the new sovereign, which he gratefully remembered by raising the giver to the primacy of all England. Soon after his intro- duction to Lambeth Palace, Tillottson heard an alterca- tion between his porter and a visitor. Soon the indig- nant official appeared, and announced that an insolent old man was at the door demanding admittance, asking if John Tillottson was at home. The door had been slammed in his face, and stni he refused to move. "It must be my father," said the archbishop, and hastened down to embrace him. He was a plain old Quaker, giving titles to neither priest nor king. The Stak-Spangled Banner will be sung while the nation endures. Not the least remarkable thing about it was its origin. Key watched the bombard- ment of Port Henry from the dock ; at night he saw the banner by " the rocket's red glare." He was early on the lookout, and saw that the "flag was still there." He was oi-dered to visit the fleet, bearing a flag of truce. In an open boat he wrote his ' ' Star- Spangled Banner" on the back of a letter, while Ad- miral Cockburn held the tiller. The Kemps, who control the wealthiest drug-house in the city, owe their success to the fidelity and sacri- fice of their mother. Forty years ago she was a widow with several small children depending on her. She opened a small grocery-store on the corner of Broome and Eidge streets, in New York. She laid up a little 170 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. money by constant toil and perseverance, gave her children a good education, started them off with good principles, and they are among the merchant princes of the hour. Bishop Janes' celebrated farm in New Jersey is now owned by Francis Oliver. He worked his passage from the North of Ireland to the Hudson. He made friends on board the vessel, and the officers and pas- sengers gave him a letter of recommendation. The letter fell into the hands of Mrs. Janes, who wanted a steady, sober, reliable farm-hand. She sent Mr. Oliver to the farm, where he has remained for over thirty years. He now owns the bishop's farm, and is a wealthy and honored man. Abel Stevens, the histo- rian of the Methodist Church, was taken out of the streets by a Christian, clothed, and put in a Sunday- school, where the first steps of a Christian life began. McDonough, himself a religious man, knew the power of religious sentiments on seamen. Before a battle he cleared the decks, threw the flag over the capstan, ordered the crew to divine worship, and always drew his sword when the chaplain made an appeal to the God of Battles. Some men are helped on their way by quick- witted- ness. A man who was not a regular customer called at a mercantile house and was shown goods. As he left the store the merchant called to the salesman and said : " What have you been doing all this forenoon ? " *' Customer has been buying very Jieavy, and buying an unusual line." " Don't deliver anything till I tell you!" The merchant walked coolly into a store and said: "When do you expect Mr. Jones?" "He's here now." "Is he buying largely?" "He ordered largely, but we are not willing to deliver." "Put ANEGD0TE8 OF EMINENT FOLKS. 171 back those goods," the merchant said when he entered his store. " Your customer can' t get trusted else- where. I suspected as much." In ten days Mr. Jones suspended. Mk. HoPKiiirs was the son of the paralytic signer of the Declaration of Independence. In 1770 he com- posed "Hail Columbia," and called it the President's March. It was called out by a prospective war with France. It was never popular, and fell into disrepute. To help Hopkins some friends proposed a compliment to him in one of the theaters. A little theatrical finesse was resorted to, to give eclat to the song. The President promised to honor the occasion with his pres- ence. And as he took his seat in the gorgeously- arrayed box, the band struck up Hail Columbia. The audience came to their feet, and amid great applause joined in the chorus. That evening settled the popu- larity of the composition, and Hail Columbia has held the front rank among our national ballads for a hun- dred years. The MARINES would have held Washington when the British burned the capitol, had Commodore Bar- ney's powder held out. The President and Cabinet fled and hid themselves in what is still known as the "cave of secretion." The cowardice of the offlcialg was lampooned in the doggerel of the day : "Fly, Armstrong, fly; run, Monroe, run; Were the first words of Madison." Commodore Barney and the marines resisted the ap- proach of the British. With a swivel gun they held the force at bay until the powder gave out, when the brave soldiers retreated in good order. 173 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. The popular tiine which Mason affixed to Heber's Missionary Hymn was as accidental as the hymn itself. Saturday night found Heber at the house of a relative, in whose pulpit he was to preach the next morning. The sermon was to be a missionary one, and as Heber took the candle to retire, his relative suggested that he should write a hymn to be sung on the occasion. He appeared at the table next morning in good spirits, and read to the delighted company his famous song, ' ' From Greenland's Icy Mountains." It was sung that day to an old naval tune, known as "'Twas Wlien the Sea was Roaring." The hymn became instantly and almost universally popular. Lowell Mason was in Savannah, a clerk in one of the banks, in 1818. On his way to church one morning, he met a friend who called his at- tention to Heber's hymn. The verses so impressed him that he could think of nothing else during the sermon. On reaching home he put his fingers on the keys of the piano and the tune rolled itself out without effort. The tune attained a popularity quite as wonder- ful as the hymn. It called him to Boston ; gave him the lead of the Handel and Haydn Society, and gave him the publication of its music — and a fortune. The fame of the Rothschilds rested on the solid foundation of integrity. Mayer Rothschild was a broker in a small way. He lived in humble style, and was content with small earnings. The revolution, raged, and the French were at the gates of the city. One dark and stormy night the Landgrave knocked at the door of the banker' s cottage, and said : ' ' Here are my treasures, my jewels, with three millions of tha- lers. I must fly ! You are honest, but are too jjoor to be suspected ! Keep this fortune till better times. If the French sack your house, it will be no fault of yours." The city was sacked, and the house of the ANECDOTES OF EMINENT FOLKS. 173 Rothscliilds was not spared. ,Long after, the Land- grave knocked at the banker's door: "Peace is come at last ; it has cost me dear, and I'm penniless. Will an old friend loan me a small sum on an indemnity I shall receive in Hesse Casself "I will loan you," said the banker, "three millions of thalers, with no security at all. I lost my own money, bat I have kept yours. I used it as a capital. Out of it I've made a fortune. I will return it to you with five per cent, for Zedlitz, the famous Prussian general, won his spurs by an act of daring. The eagle-eyed Frederic had singled him out as a hero, when he was lieutenant in the army. He was ordered to attend the king in a reconnoitre. Crossing a bridge, the king suddenly said to the young soldier: "What would you do if both avenues to the bridge were in possession of the enemy?" "I would do this," and leaped his horse over the rail into the Oder. He swam safely ashore, and was saluted by the delighted king as major, before he landed. Oakes Ames worked out a fortune on an anvil. He was shovel-maker to the world, producing from his forge a half a million a year. Men digged with his shovels on the coast of Guinea, in the Arctic snows, in the mines of California, and in the collieries of the old world. He hammered out a fortune which ought to have sufficed him. He had become great as a shovel- maker, why not equally great as a banker ? He buried one hundred thousand in speculations on the Pacific Coast. He sunk thousands in cotton, stocks became playthings, and he blew bubbles in the air that cost him millions. He failed for eight millions, and in his fall ruined more men politically, financially, and morally, 174 SUCOEaSFUL FOLKS. than any man of Ms age. His victims were strewn from the Bay of Newfoundland to the Golden Gate. Dk. Hawes was the son of a blacksmith. His father was a drunkard and an unbeliever. At an early age Joel was converted, and was aided by a lady school- teacher in securing an education. He studied while at the forge. The swing of his arms with a. big hammer in the " ten pound ten," was his emphatic gesture in his palmy days. He was a famous rider, and groomed his own horse. He was fond of a race, taking the early morning and back road for a good run. He wrote slowly, composed with great labor, and paused between his sentences. He was impatient at interruption, and when called from his study, came down pen in hand, a hint to the Visitor to be brief. Lxvin. THE BENT OF A BOY. UGH that is called Government in families, is nothing but tyranny. Parents punish when they are mad, and announce laws when they are at the white heat of passion. These they carry out to be consistent, as Herod cut off the head of John the Baptist, because he said he would. No punishment is of any advantage,, that doesn't carry the conscience of the child with it. A boy that is un- justly dealt with, and unfairly treated, is harmed for life. Boys have likes and dislikes, and in a proper TEE BENT OF A BOY. 175 way, their tastes are to be respected. Usually, out of many dishes, if there is one the child dislikes, he will be helped to that, with the injunction to eat it, or go to bed without supper. This tyranny over the lads is especially cruel when it keeps them from a calling they desire, and binds them for life to one that they hate. Some boys hate farming, and want a trade ; some dis- like preaching, and ask for the law ; some will not stand behind a counter and measure ribbon, but run away and go to sea. The bent of a boy usually comes out, and if the calling he seeks is an honorable one, it is an unwise father and improper guardian that hedges up the way of the lad. Nelson was a sailor at six. When his nurse missed him, she looked for him on the docks, where, sitting on a string-piece, he watched the sailors. Watts, when his mother's back was turned, tied down the cover of the tea-kettle, and se- curing the nozzle, he improvised a steam boiler that nearly blew things sky high. ' Dr. Bedell, of Phila- delphia, when, a child of four, marshalled into his mother's parlor a string of shoeless, hatless, dirty and hungry children, which he had picked up in the street, and insisted that they should be clothed. Bishop Heber was distinguished, when in Calcutta, for his humanity. He would walk under the molten sky of India to speak to a dying Mtisselman of the better land. When he was sixteen years of age he did the same thing for his mother, comforting her in her sor- row, and reading consolation out of the Holy Scrip- tures. Hadtn was pronounced, when a boy, as a "ne'er to do good." He would do no work, and punishment and entreaty were alike of no avail. His voice was fine, and he spent his days and nights in singing. A wandering musician gave him one lesson. His en- 176 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. thusiasm and industry gave him the rest. Out of some old boards and odd pieces of wire he improvised an instrument, on which he learned to play. The vagrant minstrel became the delight of kings. BuEEETT, the learned blacksmith, showed his love of learning while working at the forge. He divided his hours between toil and study^ He exhausted the books in the town library, became master of many languages, and without slacking his work, placed his name among the scholars of the age. Alexanbee Mueeat tended sheep. He was re- markable only for his laziness. Yet he had genius enough to frame an alphabet oat of his catechism by which he learned to read. With bits of charcoal and a board he learned to write. The few pennies he earned were spent on cheap histories and ballads. He com- mitted to memory the grammar loaned him for a few days. He was competent to teach after six week's schooling. Robert Hall, the eloquent English preacher, could not read when he was eight years of age, and was pronounced a dunce. His school-book was a tomb- stone in the old churchyard, and his teacher his nurse. De. Rittenhouse was a joiner. His thirst for learn- ing was intense. He passed his nights in study, and committed to memory the few books he could lay his hands on. He covered the fences, the barn-doors, and the loose shingles with diagrams. He mended the clocks of the poor, and repaired the rude machinery of the town. Alone and unaided he became an accurate surveyor, and by indomitable study, placed himself among the great mathematicians of the world. THE BENT OF A BOY. ITi George ^ox was a borm Quaker. He was appren- ticed to a shoe-maker, but had no traits like the lads of his town. After the work was over, the boys went shouting to their play; but Fox, Bible in hand, would retire to a hollow* tree, and spend the eventide in meditation. The age was very wicked, and drinking, gambling, and visiting the play-house, were the com- mon pastimes of the young. At nineteen, the Spirit came upon him. He threw aside his lapstone, and went out to found a sect. The costumes of the Friends indi- cated that they were pilgrims and strangers. He had divine revelations, and these obliged him to travel from ' place to place. He was a man of peace, yet lived in turbulence all his life. He refused to remove his hat in the presence of kings or judges, and was fined and imprisoned for contempt. The mother of Hans Anderson took in washing, and the lad gleaned in the field. He read, when a boy, the " Arabian Nights," and the fascinating book tinged his whole life. He was put to trade as a cabinet- maker, and at the bench he mastered the Danish, German, and other languages. He earned his reputa- tion by his indomitable industry. Falconer was a poet of the sea. He inherited nothing from his father but poverty. The sire was a barber, a wigmaker, an idler, and a failure in every- thing. The boy was sent to sea as a common sailor before the mast. His poetic gifts buoyed him up. His gentle spirit won the regard of his messmates, who did his work while he studied in the cockpit. It was the ambition of the father of Sir Humphrey Da VIES that his boy should earn his own bread, and help support the family. The lad was fond of study 13 178 SUGOESSFUL FOLKS. and took every opportunity to indulge his bent. The father was a carver, but the boy refused to accept the trade, and was bound to an apothecary. He studied chemistry with great success, and with a few rude, rough tools, he worked out ex^riments that astonished the world. DoDsLEY, of poetic fame, was a footman, and marked by his steadiness of conduct, and attention to duty. He studied while others of his class idled. He wrote verses on his coach-box, while waiting for com- pany, that drew the attention of the learned. Some of his verses were thought worthy of being ascribed to Chesterfield. The critics sought him out, and gave him a position which he had earned. Canova, the great sculptor, was a friendless orphan boy. He hung around the marble yards and studios, and was always chipping bits of marble. He astonished the city, when a boy, by modeling a lion in butter. A nobleman bought the work, and took the lad to his palace. He scorned the luxury of his surroundings, and worked like a stone-mason. A purse was pre- sented to him, and with it he visited Rome. The Venetian ambassador took' a fancy to the young artist, and presented him with a block of superior marble. At once he took rank. Out of that block he produced a style of sculpture hitherto unknown. His freedom, delicacy of touch, and elegance of finish, com- manded universal admiration. Men of genius admitted his superiority, and eminent artists begged his criticism. William Hutton, the great merchant, was a dull boy and gave no promise of success. His friends used to say that his skull must be broken to get anything into it. He was put to work as soon as he could walk. THE BENT OF A BOY. 179 he had no education, and was brutally treated. He was stunted for want of food, and suffered often for the necessaries of life. He broke from this tyranny and ran away. He secured an old trunk, and with a hammer, knife, a bit of wire, and a few nails, he con- structed a harp on which he learned to play. With this instrument he wandered about trying to get a living. He sold his harp for a few shillings to keep from starving. After his hunger was satisfied, he bought with the balance a stock of cheap goods. He made a little money and bought more. He got the run of the country, knowing that market days were red letter days in his calendar. He husbanded his gains, avoided loose company, and kept clear of. the ale- houses. A refuse library, owned by the Vicar of Bray, was put up at sale. The books brought but a few pence, and found their way into the traveling sack of Hutton. He peddled books by day, and with a rush candle mastered the library at night. He became a famed author, and one of the most successful mer- chants of his time. Vayrange was a famous iron -worker, and the wonderful mechanic of the sev«nreenth century. His stepmother was a tigress, and the boy suffered every- thing that cruelty could iuflicfc. He often wished him- self dead. One day he looked in at a window and saw a man repairing a lock. He begged the man to give him work, promisinjf io be faithful, and asking nothing but food and sbeiter. In a month Vayrange could take the most complicated lock to pieces. He was delicate and dkillful in handling firearms. He had never seen a watch. Taking home the one that was loaned him, he spent the night in taking it to pieces, and making himself master of its mechanism. He re- solved to construct a watch but it would not run, nor 180 SUGCSSSFUL FOLKS. could he overcome the difficulty. With the force of character peculiar to him he started for Paris, and ap- prenticed himself to a first-class watchTmaker of the city. In a week he found out the secret that he sought. With tools and materials suited to his purpose he slip- ped away at night and started for home. At Lorraine, where he settled, he became the most eminent mechanic of the old world. His ornamental gateway to the king's palace was pronounced one of the wonders of the world. Sir Thomas Lawrence, as a boy, was distinguished for his marked musical ability, and was regarded as a prodigy in painting, taking a prize at the age of thir- teen. He studied more than he worked. A few hours was all he gave to his easel, the rest of the day he bowed down to his books. He was an intense worker, allowing nothing to leave his hand that was not per- fect. The father of Gtipfoed was a . wild, dissipated young man. His mother was wronged out of her little property, and the problem was, what to do with the boy. He was too small for a farm, too fegble for a store, and the family were too poor for a school. The lad was sent to sea. He was a strange boy, and passed his leisure lying on his back and watching the heavens. He was cruelly treated, ran away from sea, and became a shoe-maker. He thirsted for knowledge, and spent ^all his leisure among such books as he could command. Astronomy interested him, and having no paper and no ink, he made his calculations on bits of leather with an awl. After years of privation and toil, he became eminent as a scholar, a contributor to the Edinburgh Review, and editor of the Quarterly. THE BENT OF A EOT. 181 Stephejstson, as a boy, earned a few pence attend- ing cows in a turnip field. He became a stoker in a coal-pit. He taught himself to read, and devoured the lives of eminent men ; biography had a charm for him. He was a genius. He could patch boots, repair old clothes, and mend clocks in the cabins of the lowly. When he found a piece of machinery, he took it apart to see how it was made. While working in the dark and dirty mine, he resolved to build a locomotive. After years of toil and failure his model was complete. In his joy, he shouted : " I'm a man for life." He be- came eminent as an engineer, kings consulted him, and parliaments sat at his feet. SiE Richard Aekweight was the son of a cheap barber. The sensational sign over the shop was: '' Come to the subterranean barber ; shave for a penny." The father dealt also in wigs and human hair. The boy detested the trade, and idled his time in constructing whirlagigs and curious models. The incensed father broke into the workshop and destroyed all the works. Richard found a friend in a watch- maker. Under the guise of learning a trade, the boy was permitted to use the tools of the shop, and to spend his time as he pleased. The country was alive with efforts to advance cotton over wool. In secret, Ark- wright made a machine that contained the principle of the spinning jenny. Those secret hours of toil laid the foundation for Arkwright's great fame. Eli Whitney was a boy on a farm. He had a fac- ulty for making things. At sixteen he set himself up as a nailmaker. He constructed all the tools he used. He never joined in the juvenile sports, but spent his leisure hours in studying mechanics. He fitted him- self as a teacher, and went South and opened a school. 182 SU.GCE8SFUL FOLKS. He resolved to make a machine to clean out cotton- seed. His first invention was smashed by a mob. He persevered ; won over the unwilling populace, and made a machine whose superiority could not be disputed, and "was hailed as the benefactor of the South. BowDiTCH was the son of a cooper. He was put into a ship-chandler's shop. He was distinguished by strict attention to duty, and by keeping a slate and pencil by his side while he worked. A storm drove a ship ashore at Salem, which had on board a fine library. It was affluent in the sciences, and had works in twenty languages. This library was a boon to young Bow- ditch. He made a voyage to Europe, and used the hold of the vessel as a studio. He robed the vessel with his problems, and studied day and night. TTia Practical Navigatiop is known the world over. LXIX. NELSON. |]T was no accident that gave Nelson the com- mand of the British fleet, a title, and a statue at Trafalgar Square. He gave the key note of his own character as he said : " When I don't know whether to fight or not, I always fight." He was distinguished for personal attention to things on his ship, and by attention to most minute matters. His last order showed this. He was borne from the deck to the cockpit to die after his fatal NELSON. 183 ■vfound. He saw a rope out of place, and feebly gave the command: "Tighten that tiller rope." His ad- vance in the navy was very slow. He was not favored —had no patron to push him ; while in the government he had many enemies. He was shamefully treated. His gallantry and bravery gained the battle of Calvi. He lost an eye and was otherwise wounded. Though his gallantry saved the fleet, his name was not men- tioned in the Gazette, and was omitted among the wounded. Hurt by the shabby treatment, and urged by the presence of heroism, Nelson is reported to have said : "Never care ! I will one day have a Gazette of my own." He was allowed to retire from the navy, there being no place for him, and he went to farming. A message from the government found him among the plows. A stray bullet had killed a post captain, and Nelson was in the succession. As he started from the plow toward the quarter-deck, he exclaimed : "Now for the Gazette or Westminster Abbey." Off duty. Nelson seemed very little like a hero. He was under- sized, had a pale, interesting face, wore a mournful, placid look, and his Speech was mild and gentle. He never passed a sailor in the streets without speaking to him, and always had a small gift for any one that had been under his command. 184 SUCGEaSPUL FOLKS. LXX. STEWART'S BUSINESS TRAITS. R. STEWART came to America in the latter part of 1818. His parents had preceded him twelve years before. His father died and left his mother a little money. She set up a second-hand furniture store on Chatham street, near what was then known as the Jews' burial-ground. The locality is still devoted to the trade in second-hand goods. There was a well-known schoolmaster in that locality, belonging to the Society of Friends, known as Isaac F. Bragg. One night Mary Stewart ran over to Mr. Bragg' s house with the information that her brother Alexander had just arrived, and begged Mr. Bragg to give him the position of assistant teacher in his school. Alexander came over for examination. He knew no Greek, no Latin, no French. He passed a fair examination in arithmetic, writing, the elements of grammar, and spelling. He was employed as nsher on a salary of three hundred and fifty dollars a year. So the great merchant started in this city. The story of his classical studies goes to the wall under the hand of Mr. Bragg himself. Stewart was intended for the Episcopal ministry. An accident made him a trader. He was a school- teacher, and was induced to visit Ireland to claim a small inheritance that fell to him. A shrewd Scotch- man advised him to invest his little fortune in dry- goods, and sell them in New York. He traded in a small way in a little store on Broadway opposite to his down-town palace. I have heard Stewart describe his little shanty in which he began to trade. Besides \ r ^ 5 ALEXANDER T. STEWART, BTEWART'S BUSINESS TRAITS. 185 needles, tapes, and nick-nacks, he had a higher class of goods, and commanded a higher custom than his neighbors. The old Knickerbockers traded with him, because the Stewarts were "decent industrious people/' At the start, Stewart introduced a style of business not common in New York. Near Stewart' s little shanty stood the store of the lordly Rickers, the great mer- chants of the day. When Stewart's stock was low, he sold everything off at cost. With the money he filled' up his store with goods in new style. The Rickers warned Stewart that that style would ruin him. He thought otherwise, and as his wont was, followed his own counsel. Stewart was a close, sharp buyer, and the traders soon found out where fresh goods could be had at a low price. The result was Stewart went up, and the Rickers went down. Stewart was an autocrat in trade, and a hard master. His rules were as rigid as those in the Penitentiary. Clerks were fined for everything. If they were late. If they went out. If they misdirected a bundle, mis- called a name, or mistook a number. If they sat in the store, or over-stayed the lunch hour. Sometimes a month's wages were spent in fines. Stewart had partners in profits ; but none in management. He could sell what he pleased, and when he pleased, and put the key in his pocket when he chose. He ran his store by the month, putting money in the bank in advance to meet all the expenses. He controlled the market in many things, and compelled the universal America to pay him tribute. Though a hard trader, he was emi- nently fair. Demas Barnes made a contract for a quantity of cloth, which was made in England. The goods were sent direct to Mr. Barnes, but they were inferior to the samples, and for the purposes intended were useless. The salesman contended that the goods 186 8U0CES8FUL FOLKS. were those ordered, and an appeal was taken to Mr. Stewart. The merchant said: "Show me the goods and the sample." Turning to the salesman, he said : " This is not the quality of cloth you agreed to fur- nish. Mi". Barnes, are these goods worth anything to , you?" "No, sir." "Then leave them, I will send your order to-day, and all loss will be made up to you." Strict as Stewart's rules were, the list of applica- .tions for service in his store was always large. It was a good start for a young man to get a place under Stewart. If he met the rugged requirements of the great autocrat, and continued a year, he would go any- where. Good salesmen would work for their board, or a mere nominal price, simply to say, they had been to Stewart's. Civility was a winning card. One day, Stewart said : " I can command the wholesale trade, for I can make it an object for heavy buyers to deal with me, but people who buy pins, needls, thread and but- tons, must be catered to, and out of these I make my profit. A salesman is valuable j;o me, not when he dis- poses of goods through a misrepresentation, but when he states fairly what my goods are, and what are the prices. Exaggeration, misrepresentatibn, and having two prices for articles, are as damaging to merchants, as it is wrong in principle." I saw Mi". Stewart at Garden City a short time be- fore his last sickness. He was one of the best pre- served men I ever saw. He did not look a day over fifty. His form was lithe and genteel — his clothes were cut in fashionable style — his manners were quiet and his tones gentle. At that moment he was control- ling two of the heaviest warehouses in the world. He was in the midst of his Garden City property, a terri- tory eight miles long and four wide. He was expend- ing on this property millions. Railroads were grid- JAY GOULD' 8 BOYHOOD. 187 ironing the estate, sewerages opening, roadways being macadamized, costly dwellings by the score going up, on all which Stewart looked with the air of a man wholly at leisure. He lived in the simplest style. At Long Branch he was offered pickles and salad ; he de- clined, saying: " My appetite is good ; I reserve such stimulants untU I'm an old man." LXXL JAY GOULD'S BOYHOOD. Y common consent Jay Gould is the boldest I and most successful operator on the street. He has fought his way up, with an enter- prise and desperation that always triumphs. As his manhood is, so was his boyhood. He was born in the county of Delaware, in the township of B,ox- bury. The modest cottage in which he lived, the school where he studied, the store in which he worked, still remain. He received a good education at the hand of his father, who was a schoolmaster. One of Jay's boyish freaks was to predict his future wealth, and to map out methods of spending it. He was a sturdy resolute, industrious boy, and could turn his hand to anything. He was a self-made surveyor. He put his few rude tools into a wheelbarrow, and trundled it before him from point to point. One of the best maps j3£J3flla:ware, county-has, on, the corner^ — *^Surveyed by Jay Gould." 188 SUGCES8PUL F0LK3. Gould had a knack for trading, and was very sharp as a cattle-dealer. In one of his tramps he got a lesson that lasted him all his life. A farmer had a herd of - - cattle, and Jay went ont to look at it. In the midst of the bartering a woman appeared, who had a little talk with the farmer. Gould caught a word now and then : ' ' Now don' t, husband, I beg of you not to ; if you have any regard for me, don' t. I shall die if you do." "What's the matter with that woman?" said Gould. "Oh nothing, — my wife has a favorite cow, — she is called ' Old Pailful,' and the woman is afraid I'm going to sell her." The woman hung round, and of course Gould demanded that "Old Pailful" should be brought out. She was a picture, and the young trader said that that cow must go with the lot if he made the purchase. . The cattle were driven home, and the father sent Jay out to see what kind of a milker "Old Pailful" was. He had scarcely seated himself, before the cow threw him, pail, and stool, sky- high, she tore around the pasture, leaped the fence, and started for home. Ever after Gould never bought anything that a woman wanted to keep. Young Gould tried his hand at country store keep- ing. He chafed under the hum-drum style of country trade. He was very smart, very capable, and soon had a chance to introduce a few improvements. The trader started on a visit to New Jexsey and left his young clerk in charge. The out-going wagon was hardly out of sight before Gould commenced operations. He pro- posed to sell the store out and lay in a fresh stock of goods. He marked everything down ; covered the country with show-bills, promising great bargains for a few days. He stirred the country, and the town looked like a muster-day. The store was crowded from dawn till dark. When the trader came home he found his year's stock sold, the store empty, and his clerk count- JAY GOULD'S BOYHOOD. 189 ing up the gains. He was too smart for the position, and was obliged to leave. Zadoc Pratt was the great man of the region, and Gould could scarcely have overlooked him if he would. In his great tannery Grould seemed to have found a field equal to his ability. Jay was able as a clerk, and in- valuable as a draughtsman. Pratt was building, en- larging and altering continually, and the skill of the young draughtsman found constant employment. The counting-room was covered with papers, specifications and plans. Two such sharp men could not very well occupy the same position, and principal and subordi- nate had a falling out. Gould seized all the drawings and plans, and removed them. Pratt demanded them, and proposed to take them by force. Gould organized a band of stout, hardy yeomanry to defend his rights. He showed his pluck and tact then, as he did years after- wards in his Erie fights. Gould won, as any man will win, who has right on his side and courage to defend it. No two men were ever less alike than Jay Gould and Jim Fisk. Yet no two men were ever better fitted for each other. Gould was cool, cautious, and wily. Fisk, daring and audacious. Gould had brains to. organize. Piske had executive force. Fisk told me that he controlled more gold on "Black Friday" than the Rothschilds ever held, and if the president had kept out of the fight, he would have made thirty mil- lions out of the "Black Friday" operations. Gould worked secretly, like a mole out of sight. Fisk wrote his transactions on his frontlet. Gould respected out- ward morality ; Fisk took no, pains to show his disre- gard for the decencies and conventionalities of life. Gould works through agencies, and covers his own tracks. His house, where he transacts his business, is fitted up like a war department. Wires run to every part of the city. Sitting at his table, he can talk to 190 aUGOESSFUL FOLKS. his brokers on the street, and advise speculators in a secret conclave. His bell is on the jump from morning till night. A dozen persons sit in his parlors at a time waiting for an interview. One rule is meted out to all who have not a previous appointment. In answer to a card, the messenger quietly whispers, "Mr. Gould will see you in one minute." His great business is in his own hands. He trusts to his own judgment, and keeps his own counsel. His personal presence is not impos- ing. He is under-sized, and his head looks as if he must have had the "rickets" when a boy. His coun- tenance is swarthy, and his features are decidedly Jewish. Brokers say that he keeps twenty millions on deposit to meet any little exigency that may arise. He understands the power of the press, owns an editor or two, and runs one of the great newspapers of the day. He is keen, far-sighted dnd audacious. LXXII. THEOLOGY AS A TRADE. EN" select preaching as a business, as they select law or surgery. It takes more years to train a ministei' than it does to train a man for any other profession. It takes as much talent to run a church as it does to run a country store ; yet a country store-keeper is a business man, and a minister is not. The study that fits a man to preach usually unfits him for anything else. Yet men select Theology as a trade, gather families upon it, and THE0L09T A8 A TBABE. 191 devote their years to its work. The ministry has ad- vantages and disadvantages peculiar to itself as a calling. A minister must live up to the style of the lavt'yer, merchant, and doctor vrithout a tithe of their revenue. He must keep a hotel where strangers, agents, ahd beggars in orders must find quarters. He must send his sons to college, and his daughters must be accom- plished in all the refinements that belong to a mil- lionaire. Other professions require years before a paying practice is secured. A minister's best salary is when he is young. Other men pass years in working themselves up into a social position ; the minister takes his with a bound. He may have been a wood-chopper, and his father a blacksmith, yet with his first sermon he takes rank with the jndge, store-keeper, and the aristocrat. His wife may have been a dairy -maid, a milliner, or a house-servant ; yet the elite and the titled stand back and let her pass, as she out-rank& them all. Like all business, preaching is sometimes a failure and sometimes a success. Men often select the sacred calling, not because they are fitted for it, but because their father was in it. But talents, like grace, are not hereditary. A well-known famUy, made up of a dozen children, put every boy into the ministry. The boys were stout muscular fellows and would have been at a premium as stone-masons or longshoremen. With one or two exceptions, the batch was very ordinary. Spurgeon refused to go to college because it would spoil him as a preacher. In English families where there is a living the stupidest boy of the family, fit for nothing else, is usually assigned to it. Should a cadet at West Point be educated for a Boldier as men are educated for the ministry, he would 193 SUGGE88FUL FOLKS. be thrown over. Students in theology learn a great deal ; they know theology, languages, and polite litera- ture. But they are not taught to preach. The man who teaches them elocution could not keep an audi- ence awake ten minutes. The man who instructs them in pastoral work doesn't attend five funerals in five years. Suppose a cadet to graduate who ranks num- ber one in moral philosophy, stands equally high in chemistry, but can' t draw a sword, neither can he ride, load, or fire. The armorer at Springfield would lose his head, if he burnished and mounted a costly sword without trying its edge. Who would send his boy to an engineer who never ran a mile of chain ; or put him to merchandise with a merchant who failed annually ; or put him to study navigation with a captain who always ran his ship ashore ; or put him under a soldier who never fought a battle ? The ministry is a sad trade for men who have no heart in it. Men who were born horse- jockeys, politi- cians, speculators, and jesters, seldom become a suc- cess in the sacred office. Sterne would have made a first- rate pot-house politician. Swift would have ranked high as a bar-room joker. Churchhill should, have been poet laureate to a low theater. A coarse jest cost Sydney Smith a mitre. His brother, a heavy, stupid man, out-ranked him, and the merry preacher used to say : "My brother rose by his gravity, and I sank by my levity." There are no better business men than the American clergy. They broke down all opposition, and led the Puritans from Holland to Plymouth Rock. They founded Harvard College, and at Saybrook furnished the nucleus for Yale College. President Edwards was an office-holder under the Massachusetts govern- THEOLOGY AB A TRADE. 193 ment. Dr. Dwight gave Connecticut her constitution. The boldest man in the Continental Congress, the one the most loud-mouthed for independence, was the preachei' John Witherspoon. About fifty years the American Board was conducted by the clergy, and the Methodist Book Concern, that runs the denomination, was founded by ministers, and by them exclusively controlled for nearly a hundred years. The ministry is the only trade in which it is a crime to GROW OLD. The old lawyer blooms into a judge ; the successful merchant becomes a capitalist ; and the old doctor is of priceless value. When a minister fails to attract, and can't pay church debts, or sell costly pews, he is turned out, "when the men who knew not Joseph" are in power. The large cities are full of once popular and attractive ministers without a charge, — who lived up to their income, — saved nothing, — and have been turned out to take care of themselves by people to whom they gave the freshness of their youth and the strength of their manhood. These persons live from hand to mouth, — sell books, — get a little insurance, — trafl3.c in a small way, earn a little brokerage, and live a dog's life with hard work and poor pay. Brooklyn had the Peince op Peeachers, — eccen- tric, but popular. Men came from the four quarters of the country to hear him. He had a commanding church, had a beautiful house, in beautiful grounds, kept his carriage, and maintained style. To-day he would be in actual want, but for a little annuity settled on him by his old charge. A Connecticut pastor, who was once one of the most influential men in the nation, and held his pastorate forty years, was broken-hearted when his people demanded a fresher man. He said if 13 194 8UC0ES8FUL FOLK^. lie could begin life over again, he would not be a Puritan minister. The ApoUos of the American pulpit was settled in Albany. He was a model pastor of the land. During his long settlement in Albany, he received, on an average, a call a year, from the most important churches in the country. Every city bid for him. He would grow old. There were whispers about a fresher man. His life-long services were forgotten. He was dismissed, and would have been dismissed without a settlement if two prominent men had not had a quar- rel. Small as the annuity was, it was opposed on the ground that the minister had fifty thousand dollars' Worth of manuscripts that he ought to sell. " Sell my autographs ?" said the indignant divine. " I'd as soon sell my children." The founder of a well-known ministerial Family was influential above his peers. He was called here, called there, and always to an eminent position. He had a large salary, but saved nothing. Age came upon him, and found him without a support. A few Boston friends kept him from want till the close of his life. A GrENTLEMAN called on me one day to make known what he regarded as a special hardship. He was getting a small salary as a missionary, often was in a strait for bread. The church where he worshipped had raised his pew rent and he must leave. Yet I had known that man as one of the great popular ministers of Boston ; his salary was large, his style of living ele- gant, his position enviable. Alienations arose ; they culminated in his dismissal. An associate of his, set- tled near him, was a sort of Pope. He was a man of marked prejudice and obstinacy. He would use pub- lic occasions to make known his prejudice, and to JEREMIAH CURTia AND SOOTHING STROP. 195 strike a brother who had no means of defending him- self. His turn came at last. He went abroad for his health. A cruel letter met him at the Gate of Naples, asking his resignation, as he stood in the way a settle- ment which the parish wished to make. Men fail in business as theologians, as they fail in other trades. Some get a position above their ability. Some get their heads turned, and become vain. Some grow loose in doctrine as they grow in years. Some give their strength to merchandise, authorship, lectur- ing and stock-raising. Some, who have real talent, are well described by the poet : — " His talk is like a stream that runs With rapid change from rocks to rosea ; It skipped from politics to puns, It passed from Mahomet to Moses ; Beginning with the laws that keep The planets in their radiant courses, And ended with some precept deep For skinning eels and shoeing horsea." LXXIII. JEREMIAH CURTIS AND SOOTHING SYRUP. HIS gentleman has made a fortune out of soothing syrup. By extraordinary advertis- ing, an immense sale has been created for the article. Mr. Curtis is a man of com- manding stature, a courtliness of the old school, and dispenses an elegant hospitality. He worked his way up in his New England home, to the position of justice 196 8UG0E8SFUL FOLKS. of the peace, a member of the legislature, and could, if he wished, have been governor of the State. Mr. Curtis was brought up in Maine,.where a boy is expected to do a man' s work. Idleness was a crime, and a lad that would not dig, mow, chop, hoe, was born for a poor-house or the jail. Young Curtis despised these social maxims, and neither the poor-house nor the jail had any terrors for him. A trade he woiildn' t learn. He detested farming, and menial work had no charms for him. He was a vagrant, but no idler. He could hunt and fish with the best, snare birds, trap fowls, and strip the otter of its skin. His traps, self-made, were ingenious, and the tools he constructed for his pastimes were the envy of the boys in the town. His industrious neighbors thought it a sin and a shame that a boy that could hammer out on an anvil such curious devices wouldn't work. It was sinful that such parts should be thrown away. At the birth of Jeremiah, the genius of speculation must have pre- sided. Trading was as natural to him as whittling to a Yankee. He made a business of his sports. He drove a thriving trade in furs, and bartered the animals he caught and the birds he snared. He opened a mart for the farmers ; brought their produce in bulk ; took the ashes of the country and opened a soap factory ; opened a cooperage and encouraged men to cut hoops and staves ; and traded in hides, horns, hoofs and beef. He was a public benefactor. He was square as a die, and true as a bevel. The disasters of 1837 overtook him, and swept everything away. His wife, a heroic woman, found him one morning walking the floor, ap- parently in great distress. " What is the matter, Jere- miah?" "I dare not tell you; it vsdll kill you." "Have you murdered anybody?" "No." " Any- thing short of that won't kill me." "I've lost all my money ; I must fail." " Is that all ? Why don't you JEREMIAH CURTIS MTD SOOTEINQ SYRUP. 197 suspend ? You can pay when you are able ; nobody can prevent you doing that." Out of the wreck one vessel was left. This was des- tined for the West Indies. Mr. Curtis sailed in her as supercargo. But the luck was against him. Yellow Jack boarded the vessel, and the captain and all the hands were taken down. The captain was on shore, and the doctor said he would die if he was moved. " He will die if he is not moved," said Mr. Curtis. "If he dies at all, he shall die on board my vessel, and I'll take him or his body home. Mr. Curtis was captain, mate, crew and nui'se, and when the vessel reached Calais, all on board were convalescent. Not disheart- ened, Mr. Curtis loaded his vessel and proposed to trade along shore. A fleet anchored at the mouth of one of the rivers in a gale. Curtis believed that the river would freeze up before morning. Against the protest of the captain, and in the teeth of the gale, with the risk of an overturn, the anchor was raised, and the vessel went up to port. The next morning everything was frozen fast. The daring owner had everything to himself, and sold his cargo of provisions at a high price. Success came at last, and from an unexpected quar- ter. Mr. Curtis bought out a small drug store in Maine. Among the stock in trade was a receipt for soothing syrup, which bore the name of an old and honored nurse. The remedy was popular and in constant de- mand. Mr. Curtis thought he saw a fortune in that lit- tle piece of paper, and it was a small thing to found a fortune upon. But men have become millionaires on articles quite as small as the soothing syrup receipt. A handful of tobacco, a pile of hoofs and horns, a pan- fuU of candy, a bag full of rags out of an ash barrel, a bundle of furs, and a bimch of kindling-wood, have made men both rich and famous. 198 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. Mr. Curtis resolved to give his medicine a national reputation. He removed the manufactory to New York. He used the press in a manner that was as- tounding. He made the virtues of the medicine known in every kingdom under heaven. The demand was enormous from all parts of the world. Especial agen- cies for its sale were opened in London, Paris, Berlin, Australia, Japan, China, and in the Islands of the Sea. Fortunes have been spent to supplant the soothing syrup. Combinations have been formed to drive it from the trade. Druggists, chemists, and doctors con- spired to detect the secret of its excellence, or furnish a substitute. The medicine leads the market to-day, as it has for years ; it meets a great public want ; is simple, economical and effective. Mr. Curtis is one of the best business men of the age. He needed a few thousand dollars at one time to meet an exigency. Most men would have thrown the medicine in the market at a reduced price. He kept his embarrassment to him- self ; filled the land with circulars, announcing that on a given day the price of the medicine would be raised. The plan was successful. Orders came rushing in from every quarter. He had all the money he wanted, yet he raised the price as he said he would. RICH, TEE OTSTERMAN. 199 LXXIV. RICH, THE OYSTERMAN. SAAC RICH gave away in his lifetime over half a million. He left a million and a half to be distributed after he died. He was a Cape Cod boy, and was trained to catching fish and lobsters. A stranger in Boston, he commenced business as a lad by selling oysters. With a canvas bag slung over his back he tramped through the streets of the town, shouting "Oys! hvij any oys !" It was the days of Boston simplicity, when everybody lived at the North End. A maid came to the door with a candle and a can. The oysterman followed the maid into the kitchen, opened the oysters, threw the shells into the fire, and passed out on his way. This was young Rich's business for years. His work was hard, his pay light, his gains slow ; but he had employment, earned his bread, saved a little money, and he was satisfied. He was industrious, honest, and economical. By and by he rose to the dignity of a handcart, and added fish to his stock in trade. He worked his way to a stall in Faneuil Market. His peculiar style of business here came out. He was always on hand ; no customers came too early, none too late. His stock was complete and fresh. He at- tracted the attention of hotel men. If fish was wanted as a specialty, or wanted at an unusual hour, Rich was called for. Boyden, then of the Tremont, took a lik- ing to the young fishman, and said to him one day, "Why don't you keep salmon?" "I'm too poor." ' ' What has poverty to do with salmon ?" " It has every- thing to do with it. Salmon is sold by the cargo, and 200 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. the heavy buyers charge us so much that we can' t make anything." "How much money Vill buy a cargo?" " Six hundred dollars." " Secure the next cargo that comes in, and I'll loan you the cash." Before dawn young Rich was on the dock. He saw a vessel coming up, jumped on deck, and bought the cargo before she was made fast. The heavy buyers loitered on their way. They were astonished to know that the cargo was sold and largely disposed of. Rich cornered the market, got his own price for the fish, and made money enough by that lucky venture to furnish his own capital. Rich turned his hand to nearly every- thing, — bought a vessel, speculated in flour, wheat, and corn ; yet never departed beyond the line of his own business. He opened a profitable trade with Baltimore, sending salmon to that market packed in ice. He sent it in his own vessel. He loaded the ship with flour as return cargo, and made both Baltimore and Boston contribute to his fortune. Through all his career he kept up the same style of business. He did his business as thoroughly and as honestly with a bushel of oysters over his shoulder, as he did when his capital was a million. He gave personal attention to Ms business till the day of his death. MOBRISSET'S STORT. 3M LXXY. MORRISSEY'S STORY. ^HERB one man succeeds who has Morrissey's habits, character and business, a thousand go to ruin. Since he took his first start as a shoulder-hitter among the politicians, to the present hour, he has been a gambler by trade. He can draw his cheque at any time for a hundred thou- sand dollars. He is a large-sized, heavy-moulded man ; his hair crystal black, with a face disfigured by a broken nose, gained in a fight. There was no lower round of the ladder than that Morrissey stood on when he came from Troy to New York. The city was ruled by roiighs who smashed up ballot-boxes and broke the heads of voters. He was employed by the Whigs to organize a band and strike back. With the money obtained from this source he bought a suit of clothes, opened a small business place, and to liquors added gambling. He drank little and played less. His own story, as he tells it, is this: "I was a stout lad and made fighting my business. My father-in-law kicked me out of the house, and I started for Nev^ York. I was poor as a wharf rat, and could hardly pick up my bread. I offered to fight Rynders, Hyer, Sullivan, and the whole crowd. Nobody would fight me, and I started for California. After fighting Sullivan at Bos- ton Corners, I got iharried, and went into business. I refused to fight any more, but they would not let me alone. Heenan threatened to thrash me, my father was whipped, my family abused, and my friends beaten. I went into training to defend myself. I went into battle and won ; cleared out my enemies, and got 202 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. a broken nose. I resolved to do something for the rep- utation of my boy. I chased up the seat in Congress to say, 'Your father began in the prize-ring, but he wrote M. C. after his name.' " LXXVI. LOCATION FOR BUSINESS. OCATION has a great deal to do with a man's success, — not only in relation to business itself, but to his own capacity. Some are large men in a small town, and very small men in a large town. Some make money in a limited trade, and throw it away in an extended one. Men who ask a wider field must be sure that they have capacity for the new situation. Men make a hundred thousand dollars as country bankers, and are thrown flat on their back in Wall street, before they know what's the matter. For an energetic daring man the city is the place. London holds the trade and wealth of England. Paijs is the center of the commerce and money of France. The metropolis of a country is the great money center where fortunes are made. It was so in the time of the prophets. It was the ambition of men to "go into the city and buy, sell, and get gain." The merchants of old Tyre were "princes, and her traffickers were the honorable of the earth." A conversation in " the south hay field" at Salsbury, induced Webster to resolve when a boy that he would LOCATION FOB BUSINESS. 203 _ live in a city. He opened Ms office in Portsmouth, found his way to Boston, and it was a life-long regret that he did not move to New York. Choate opened his rural office in Danvers, and on moving to Boston, took his place at the head of the bar. John Hall was as much of a preacher in Ireland as he was in New York. He had no fame above his brethren. His congregation was small and made lap of Scotch-Irish. At the head of a wealthy influential city church he was another man. For twenty-five years Dr. Taylor was rector of Grace Church. It was one of the most fashionable churches in the metropolis. Position did everything for him. He. was a very ordi- nary preacher, and could hardly have got a call to a country church. His readings were nearly inaudible — he had an impediment in his speech — with a choking that suggested apoplexy. His pews were always at a premium, and his church was, par excellence, the church of the elite. To be married or buried from Grace Church was the height of human felicity. I knew Rev. B. P. Rogers when he was a wagon-maker in Hartford. He studied under Dr. Hawes, and came into the ministry through the cabin windows. His settlement on Fifth avenue places his name among dis- tinguished men. Few people know that Rev. W. H. H. Murray was ever settled in New York. He was colleague with the Rev. E. H. Hatfield. He made no mark, and when Dr. Hatfield was dismissed no one thought of retaining the assistant. At Meriden and Greenwich he had only an average success, but as pas- tor at Park street he became prominent. Had Hastings remained at Daylsford he never would have won back the paternal estate. Had Clive remained in the home of his boyhood, he would prob- 204 SUOGBSSFUL FOLKS. ably have been familiar with the rough side of the re- formatory. Cass in New Hampshire would have been justice of the peace,— perhaps governor. Douglass among the Green Mountains would have been a smart politician. Lincoln, in the blue-grass of Kentucky, might have been a good stock-raiser. A boy at home seldom has a chance. Nobody believes in him, — least of all, his relations. His indiscretions will be flung in his face, and his follies written with a pen of iron. A doctor has a small chance of success in a town where he has sown his wild oats. And few parishes want a minister who had not vim enough to kick foot-ball. LXXVII. ROMANCE OF THE ASTORS. I HE Astors are an exception to the rule that property does not descend to the third gen- eration. The style of business introduced by John Jacob is observed by the children. The origin of the house was humble enough. All the Astors know the value of money, and never waste it. They do not spend a shilling except under the pres- sure of necessity. The boys never ride when they can walk, never call a coach when they can take an omni- bus, never take an omnibus when there is a street car handy. They secure a dollars' worth of merchandise for every dollars' worth of money. The habits of the plder Astor were as regular as a Dutch clock. Spirits he avoided ; three games of chequers and a glass of ale crowned the dinner. BOMANGE OF THE A8T0RS. 305 Henry, one of the brothers, was a butcher in the Bowery. He was a banker in a small way, and loaned money on good security. John Jacob was an occa- sional borrower, and his brother said to him : " John, I will give you a thousand dollars, if you will never ask me for another loan, and never ask me to indorse." Astor knew a good bargain when he saw it, and accepted the offer. When he became known in trade he was a terror to merchants, he bought so heavily. A cargo of tea was in the market, and a merchant saw Astor coming down the dock. He inter- cepted him, and said, ' ' I will give you a thousand dollars, Astor, if you won't attend this sale." " Send up your cheque before three o'clock," was his reply, and Astor turned on his heel and walked up the dock. Mrs. Astor did her part toward making the for- tune of the house. She was an energetic, clear-headed and decided woman, an excellent housekeeper, and an expert accountant. She could select a cargo of furs, and was often seen, in a plain rig, assorting pelts where the Astor House now stands. She cared little for society, and less for style. She was a member of the old Nassau street Baptist Church, and her house was the home of ministers. She heaped logs on the fire, lighted the candle, placed cider and apples on the table, and entertained her guests. John Jacob is the business man of the house. He is a brusque, massive fellow, stout, strong, and rugged — over fifty — standing six feet in his stockings. His features are coarse, his expression repulsive, and his face indicates stolid indifference. He is a man of few words, frank, decided, and gentlemanly. He can be found in his little office on Prince street — a cross be- tween a country store and a bank — attending to his immense estate. He is accessible to every one. No walking gentleman guards the door ; no snob demands 200 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. your business. He attends to the work usually as- signed to a clerk. No lawyer can better trace a chain of titles. He knows every tenant in every house on his great rent-roll. No tenant can place a penny's worth of repairs on a building without his consent. During the long lease of the Astor House, not the slightest improvement could be made without the over- sight of the owner. Putting in a pane of glass, mend- ing a lock, or driving a nail without inspection. An incident will show the style of business. The mer- chant refused to let a house at a good rent because he did not like the trade of the tenant. Soon after, a man came in and asked him if he had declined to rent his house. He said he had several houses in the city, and would be glad of a tenant, and started off to find the applicant. That man was William B. Astor. LXXVIII. JAMES HARPER'S SET-OUT. AMES HARPER founded the house of Har- per Brothers. He was a rugged, robust, healthy boy, and was put to a boy' s work on a farm. His parents were respectable, hard-working people, and trained their son to industry and Methodism. The mother was a woman of decided talent and resolute piety. I was sitting one day in Mr. Harper' s counting-room on Franklin square when he gave me the following account of his business strug- gles and life. JAMES EABPEWS SET OUT. 207 ■'It was decided that I should learn a trade, and a place was found for me in a printing-ofHce on Franklin square. My mother led the family devotions the morning I left home, and was deeply affected. As I took my seat in the wagon she came out, and said to me, 'James, you've got good blood in you. Don't disgrace it.' Wealthy merchants lived round th& Square, and their sons made fun of the printer's boy. I was especially the object of ridicule. They laughed at my dress, my shoes, asked me for my card. I kicked one fellow down stairs, and told him that was my card, and when he was out of work if he would come to me I'd employ him. Twenty years after he came and begged me to give him work to keep him from starving. ' ' When I was mayor of New York a young woman called at my office and wanted me to give her employ- ment. She was a daughter of a wealthy merchant whose sons had ridiculed my poverty when I was doing the dirty work in the printing-office. She was very attrac tive and very accomplished. She had been the belle of the city, and was now forlorn, friendless, and an outcast. I begged her to return to the society she had once adorned. She rose from the seat, looked me square in the face, and said: 'Mr. Harper, you're a humane man ; you would help me if any body would. You have daughters. I'm thoroughly competent to be their governess, companion, and instructor. Would you place them under my care ? Would you give me shelter and a trial f I could not speak for a moment. 'You need not answer,' she replied, was out of sight in a moment, and I never saw her more." 208 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. LXXIX. DEMAS BARNES ROLLS IN SOME COTTON. STOOD at the Park gate one day, when an elegant carriage drove by. My companion said : "I knew that gentleman when he had no more money than I have ; he is now a rich man, owns his carriage, and I am battling to keep the wolf from the door." Had my friend passed his youth as Mr. Barnes passed his, he might have driven his four-in-hand if he would. Demas Barnes was the son of a farmer who lived back of Albany. The boy wished to earn his own living, and New York seemed to be the place to do it in. There was not money enough to pay the boy's fare, so he footed it to Albany. He found a sloop bound for the city, and offered to work his passage, but the captain wanted no boys on board. Demas did not argue the point, but joined the crew, and went to work. He was too useful to be put ashore, so he was landed at the foot of Canal street, a stranger, hungry and penniless. It was early in the morning, and near the landing was a vessel loading with cotton. The overseer was in a hurry, for he wanted to catch the tide. Demas seized a pair of idle trucks and fell into line. He spoke to no one, no one spoke to him. After an hour a gong sounded. *' What's that for?" said Demas. "Breakfast," and the lad followed the crowd below. He fell into line, when the wages were paid, received his, and started for Broadway. The old Park Theater attracted him, but the lowest admission was thirty-seven cents, and his daily earnings did not reach that sum. Chatham street was more considerate, and he entered her play-house for a shilling. DEMAS BARh'ES liOLLS IN SOME COTTON. 209 Demas sought work, and lie was inured to toil. His uncle brought him up after the death of his father, and idleness was no part of the farm culture. Am almshouse pauper could not have been used worse. The boy was smart and capable, and at ten did a man' s work. The uncle went west, and left Demas in charge of the farm. He worked alone the whole season, took care of the cattle, planted the crops, cut the hay, and took care of the harvests. His fame was heralded miles around for stacking wheat and doing fancy work. Farming was not to his taste, and he proposed to be a trader. His relations opposed his plans, but he had lorce enough to act for himself. His savings out of three years' toil were two dollars ; to this was added a half-crown. Away from home, hard work was diffi- cult to get. The outlook was not promising. To go home and confess failure he would not, and the only thing open to him, was to go to sea. Barnes shipped on board of a whaler for a five years' cruise. He was sent to New Bedford, and his outfit was locked up to keep him from running away. As the vessel dropped down the bay the boy took in the situation. His five years' cruise v/ould sever him from everything he held dear, and he would throw away five years of the best part of his life. The vessel dropped anchor preparatory to her sail in the morning. Barnes got his clothes, jumped overboard at night," and reached the shore. As he lay hidden in the bushes, he heard his pursuers on his track. He traveled at night ; begged a morsel of food here and there, slept in barns and under the hedges, and after three days' tramp the spires of Providence hove in sight. He worked his way back to New York penniless, but not discouraged. He heard of a vacancy in a store, twenty miles off, and he went for it, walking the whole distance. The store-keeper was taking down his shutters when 14 310 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. Barnes arrived ; he wanted no boy, but Barnes thought he did, and proceeded to help him open the store. The man liked his pluck, and oiiered him a place for little more than his board. Anything was better than idle- ness, and Demas went to work with his accustomed energy. After the store was opened, the fire built, and the horse cared for, the business of the day was blacking stoves. One day he called the merchant up- stairs and pointed to a long row of nicely-polished stoves, and said: "Can I improve my work?" "I think not." "Then I'll graduate." Next he went into the dry -goods business on his own account, taking a partner who had a splendid capital on paper, but had neither cash nor credit. At last Mr. Barnes found the place fitted for him. He became a clerk in a drug-store. He learned every- thing he could learn as subordinate, and then in a small way set up business for himself. His capital was indomitable industry, pluck, and personal atten- tion to business. No store was opened so early ; none closed so late. No dray-man, no stone-mason, worked as hard. He made his own fires, purchased his own goods — and delivered the packages with his own hands. He worked at night when there was work to do. He slept under the counter, and often sold a bill of goods before breakfast. The trade learned his habits and bought goods of him out of business hours. He was frank and honorable in trade, and had marked execu- tive abUity. His business became great in New York, and he extended it to St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Cali- fornia. He found it nearly impossible to get men to attend to his affairs and let outside matters alone. His business, scattered over the entire country, had to be watched and cared for by himself. During his long business career, he never had an indorser, and he never failed to meet an obligation when it was due. MORGAN DIX AND TRINITY OEUROH. 311 Mr. Barnes prospered, and spent his money with marked liberality. He furnished his mother with an ample and elegant support. He arranged his elegant grounds so the public might enjoy their beauty. Had his suggestions been carried out ip regard to Prospect Park, the deformity of that beautiful promenade would havQ been avoided. His marked public spirit is seen in his gifts of statuary to the Park, the loan of his costly works of art for charitable purposes, with his large donations to benevolent associations. He has rendered important service in the halls of Congress and the cause of education. He owns the fine property on which the Park Theater stood, from whose doors he was turned away as a boy when too poor to pay for admission. He has kept the home of his boyhood bright and beautiful. His taste was offended by the irregularity of the trees on the farm. He ordered them taken up and placed in aline. "Your trees are all dead," said the overseer. "Never mind," said the owner. " They died all in a row." LXXX. MOEGAN DIX AND TRINITY CHURCH. ^^^T is a matter of general surprise that so young il'P^- ^ ^^'^ should secure so important a position l^^' as rector of Trinity Church. When the keys were handed to him from the north porch of old Trinity, he appeared like a young colleg- ian just graduated. The vestry of Trinity Church, of 213 aUCGESSFUL FOLKS. which the rector is chairman, controls millions, and there is an immense amount of business to be done. Through the influence of his father, Governor Dix, young Morgan was made assistant minister. He was cut out for a lawyer. He was gifted with accurate business habits, great executive force, and possessed the exactness of a banker. His department was always in order. His papers were accurately drawn, properly filed, and regularly red-taped. Dr. Berrian was the rector ; an old man, genial, gentle, and easy to be helped. His duties were too onerous to be borne cheer- fully by a rector with a heavy stipend. Young Dix saw the weakness of his superior and availed himself of it. He was a nervous, wiry and active man, who was only wretched when he had nothing to do. He took the laboring oar off from Dr. Berrian and did the rector's work as well as his own. Everything was admirably done, done on time, and under the nervous enginery of the young assistant. The rector's department never lagged. There was an ofiice in the gift of the rector which had not been filled in twenty-five years. Few persons knew of its existence. The vestry were aston- ished one day by the announcement of Dr. Berrian that he proposed to revive the office of assistant rector and appoint Dr. Dix to the vacant chair. The pro- posal was vehemently opposed, especially on the part of the assistant ministers. The rectorship was a prize anxiously looked towards. Dr. Berrian could not live forever, and somebody must take his place. Some had been assistant ministers for years, and by the law of promotion they would have a right to the im- portant post. Some had left important charges, and accepted subordinate positions in Trinity Church, ex- pecting promotion when the rectorship was vacant. Should young Dix be appointed assistant rector, with his superb business qualities, and with his father, all BqUITABLlS LIFE! ASSUItAWGB 80GIETY. 313 potent, in the vestry, his ascent to the high dignity- would be easy. All opposition was useless. The ap- pointment was with the rector, and he placed Dr. Dix in power. The fears of his rivals were realized. On the death of Dr. Berrian, young Dix was unanimously appointed rector of old Trinity. The disappointed were saved all mortification, as the induction was sim- ply of a legal order. The young rector stood in the porch of the church — the vestry handed him the keys ; these he quietly put in his pocket, and turned on his heel, the head of the richest corporation in the land. Young Dix owes his magnificent position to his superb business talents, and his adroitness in using well a subordinate position. Talents, like blood, will tell. pi LXXXT. EQUITABLE LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY. O one can write the history of the Equitable Life without writing the business career of Henry B. Hyde. Though a young man, he has won by his energy, ability and success, a name among our most successful young men. He entered the life insurance as a business in 1855, when he became connected with the Mutual Life of New York. He rapidly worked his way up until he be- came cashier of that influential institution. He had confidence in life insurance as the business of the age. He believed there was room for a new company, and proceeded to form one. Mr. Hyde took a leading part 214 SUOCBSSFUL. FOLKS. in tlie formation of the new company in 1859. He toiled as few men are willing to toil ; took the position of canvasser, and solicited business on every hand. His individual labor nearly paid the entire cost of the first year' s expense. His untiring industry, indomit- able energy and persistency overcame every obstacle. His intelligence and fertile genius brought to life in- surance new lines of work. Nothing was too small for him, nothing too great. To make the company a suc- cess, he worked night and day, with a magnetism pecu- liarly his own. He won over opponents, removed im- pediments, and made the company friends everywhere. Certain principles were laid down at the start, on which the prosperity of the society was to be be based. A board of directors was selected to win the confi- dence of the public. In the list were some of the most prominent business men of the city. Though nominally not at the head of this board, Mr. Hyde was the ruling spirit. Nothing satisfied him ; when one point was gained he sought to gain another. Like a general scaling a barricade, the carrying of one parallel only incited him to take the next. If a month' s work was uncommonly good, he did not exult over it, but would quietly remaiik : "Yes; we've done well, but we must do better next month." To an expert so- licitor he would remark : ' ' You have done very nicely ; make a better report when you come in again." Mr. Hyde was sure of the co-operation of all his associates. His good common sense and enthusiasm won their con- fidence. He kept nothing to himself. A successful plan known at lieadquarters was at once sent to every agent. The most distant post was as well instructed as the home office. All the solictors and agents were gathered from time to time to discuss the methods of business. Hints were thrown out, difficulties removed, obstacles dis- EqUITABLE LIFE .ASSURANCE SOCIETY. 215 cussed, new plans suggested, and thus the prosperity of the company promoted. Sometimes a whole year's work was mapped out, and every man everywhere pushing forward on the same system. All the em- ployees had not the same intelligence, push, nor force, but all had equal opportunities to know the best methods. The Equitable worked on Webster' s idea of crowd- ing a great deal into a small space — " When you work, work ; when you play, play." The Equitable preferred to do a year's work in six months rather than spread six months' work over a year. Everybody in the land knew of the existence and the claims of the Equitable. The press was used with vigor and liberality. First- class ability was demanded and paid for. The society increased from year to year in the number and size of its premiums and the better class of its risks. The great aim of the society has been to secure risks of a higher grade, where the mortality has decreased. Sta- tistics show that a prosperous and well-employed man, living in an airy and well-ventilated situation, is a better risk than one dwelling in an over-crowded tene- ment house, and breathing the atmosphere of contagion. For seventeen years the Equitable has held in its prosperous way, increasing in breadth and strength. Its financial policy has been a guarantee of its safety. The business for the first year reached the sum of two millions, distributed among 612 policies. In 1869 it reached fifty -two millions, distributed among 11,986 policies. The headquarters on Broadway is one of the land- marks of New York. The granite structure without a rival fills a block from Broadway to Nassau street, and has entrances on Liberty and Cedar. The cost of the structure is covered by its rentals, and saves to the policy-holders a hundred thousand a year. Clerks and 316 SUCCEaSFUL. FOLKS. agents are cared for in well- ventilated and elegantly- furnished rooms. The foresight of the company has grafted on to its new methods the Tontine plan. This- method is in great favor with wealthy insurers, who- desire the security of a life-policy, joined to a profita- ble investment. It is an endowment policy, at the cost of an ordinary one. It provides for a man' s household if he dies, and gives him a competency if he lives. The Tontine is a life policy after the lirst premium. Taken early, the insured secures a handsome income at forty, — an income that reverses can't touch, his for- tunes can't shake, and the sheriff can't handle. A man may spend his salary early, and have a reserve laid up for a rainy day. LXXXII. SAM COLT. fOLT was a blacksmith. He was an unedu- cated, rough, coarse fellow, and fond of strong dz'ink. It is denied that he was the inventor of Colt's revolver. At any rate, there is a genuine Colt revolver hanging in the London Tower, where it has hung for over five hundred years. The tradition is that Colt saw a copy of this revolver in the Tower. As a man of genius, he took' in at a glance what a few improvements would do this efficient weapon. He was a genius in his way, and a man of very marked abilities. A company was formed for the manufacture of Colt's pistols. Colt had a terrific tern- BUYING A COUNTBY SEAT. 21T per, and was so unreasonable that no one could do business with. him. He bought out the company for a song, and set up for himself. A lucrative contract from the Government made the foundation for a magnihcent fortune. He bought a large tract of swamp land in lower Hartford, and by complete drainage and a liberal outlay, he brought these useless lands up to the value of a million. LXXXIII. BUYING A COUNTRY SEAT. P. HUBBAKD has been for a great many years secretary of the New England Society. He has anoriginal way of doing things. He took to tobacco when he was twelve, both chewing and smoking. He united with the church when he was a young man. Some one suggested to* him that chewing tobacco was a disgusting habit, and not exactly cleanly for a Christian. Thinking the matter over one night, he said he would count up how much his tobacco bill cost him in a year. He resolved then and there not only to abandon the practice, but to open a tobacco account. He charged himself with six and a quarter cents a day, and this sum he put aside from week to week. Forty years run by and a country seat was needed. One was selected on the Sound, with lawns, gardens, and orchards. After the house was completely furnished, a horse and carriage bought, and a boat secured, the cost footed up the 818 SUGCESaWUL FOLKS. round sum of $33,641.43. The tobacco fund furnished that exact amount, and paid for the whole establish- ment. LXXXIV. HOUSE OF THE STUARTS. HE father of Stuart, of candy and sugar fame, was a Scotch merchant. He was surety for a relative, and smarted for it. His entire property was taken from him, and a debt of about seven thousand dollars stood against him. To retrieve his fortunes he emigrated to America. He was energetic, clear-headed, with strong common sense and a robust constitution. To this capital was added a small stock of money, and he opened business on Bar- clay street in 1805. He manufactured and sold candy in a small way. He worked fifteen hours out of twenty-four, toiling not only for bread, but to pay the Scottish debt that hung over him. In six years he wiped out the foreign claim. Each of his eighteen creditors received twenty shillings to the pound, with interest. The thrifty Scotchmen were delighted with the prosperity of Kinlock, as they had regarded the claim as a bad one. In their gratitude they executed a parchment, bearing date 1812, expressing their ap- proval of his honorable course. Kinlock Stuart was a plain man with great sim- plicity of character. He was distinguished for shrewd- ness, joined with untiring activity and integrity. He was fond of company, and welcomed his friends with generous hospitality. He was a large giver, when GLAMOUR OF PUBLIC LIFE. 319 large gifts were rare. A member of the Presbyterian church., he bore his share in its beneficent work. He died in 1826 at the age of fifty-one years, leaving an estate of one hundred thousand dollars. With this capital the house of the Stuarts was founded. Robert was born in Barclay street, in 1806, and Alexander in Chambers street, where he still lives, in 1810. The firm of E,. L. & A. Stuart was formed in 1828. It has continued without additional partners until now. As manufacturers of sugar and candy, the firm became famous in all lands. It was the first to introduce the steam refining process and make it a success. All previous attempts ended in bankruptcy. No work has ever been done on the Sabbath, — not even the repairing of machinery. Between 1861 and 1872 the sales of the house reached thirty-six millions, and not a dollar was lost by bad debts ; no obligation was ever protested, and the firm never paid over seven per cent, for the use of money. Having made a princely fortune, and unwilling to introduce the new machinery of the hour, trade was relinquished, the machinery cleared out, and the mammoth building rented for mer- chandise. LXXXV. GLAMOUR OF PUBLIC LIFE. ORE men are euiwed by the fascination of public life, than by almost anything else. Every man is a sovereign, and every sove- reign feels that he is entitled to office. The trade of politics is a poor one, and few men make any- 220 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. thing out of it. Webster cursed the day that he was seduced from his law-offlce in Boston to become a poli- tician. Choate was offered a seat on the United States bench. He declined with thanks. In a letter to Presi- dent FUlmore he said : " The salary can't support me, and I won' t steal. ' ' Those who had the entree to Wash- ington society, will recall the elegant manner in 'which the daughters of Chief Justice Taney entertained. Yet those same elegant girls begged writing of the Treasury department to give them a little bread. Post- master Jewell was waited upon by two young ladies, daughters of an eminent senator, and asked employ- ment to get bread. "If I continue in ofl&ce," said the official, "my daughters may do the same thing." Doug- lass was reputed to be a millionaire. No receptions were so popular or as elegant as those held by Mrs. Douglass. He was able, out of his landed estate, to give property to a college worth half a million. He periled everything he had in a political cast, and bankrupted himself and nearly all his friends. He died suddenly, and his wife had not property enough to give him a grave. Prom the elegant saloons of fashion the wife turned to a small room in the Treasury building as she wrote for a living. Daniel Dickin- son made a fortune in his law business. He became a politician, lost all he was worth, and would have left his family in want, but for a timely life-policy secured by his friends. A well-known New York LAWYEK was very successful at the bar. His friends put him into office. The governorship was sure to him, with the United States senatorship in reversion. His friends used him and betrayed him. He lost every- thing. He has begun on the low round of the ladder where he stood twenty-five years ago. The glamour of public life seized on a well-known bankee. He had been in trade and earned a fortune. He stood at the GLAMOUR OF PUBLIC LIFE. 331 head of a large and liberal denomination. He was pres- ident of a large bank. Wily politicians got hold of him ; promised to make him secretary of the treasury; used his money freely ; bankrupted him in estate, morals, health, and he died in an insane retreat. Nearly every public man who has devoted his life to political pursuits has been financially ruined. The country has never paid enough to its officials to justify the extravagance of public life. There are but two things to be done : either officials must steal or be financially ruined. Washington was a rich man when he drew his sword as commander of the Republican forces. The seven years' war would have ruined him had he not maintained the strictest economy. Through all the war he watched with a Jealous eye the expendi- tures of Mt. Vernon. The bills for the purchase of laces and satins passed under his eye. The farm at Mt. Yernon embraced fifteen square miles. Mrs. Washing- ton had the charge of this and of six hundred servants. Every acre sown, harvested or sold, was known to the master in the camp. Jefpeesow had a fair fortune when he embarked on the career of public life. He inherited nineteen hun- dred acres, and he increased the possession to five thousand. His income above this farm revenue was three thousand a year. His wife' s cash dowry was forty thousand dollars. His public life began in 1774 and ended in 1809, and for nineteen years he was ab- sent from Monticello. He was abroad seven years. On his return in 1809, he found his estate neglected, the property squandered, and his fortune scattered to the four winds. All attempts to retrieve his fortune were in vain. A lottery was proposed, but the scheme failed. Jef- ferson entered into a humiliating negotiation with the 233 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. government to buy tlie library. After passing through the deepest mortification Congress offered for the books $28,950. The effort to dispose of Monticello failed and the third president of the United States was publicly adjudged a bankrupt. The city of New York made a donation of $8,500, and other cities were alike generous. But for this timely aid Jefferson would have died poor and died in absolute want. Had he left public life alone and attended to his farm and his legal business, Jefferson could have lived and died in affluence. The Adams, father and son, left Washington with- out financial discredit. There is not a Treasury clerk in the city who would live in the style which marked the public career of John Adams and John Qu-incy. The boys were trained to industry, and Mrs. Adams was not ashamed to have it known that John Quincy earned an honest penny by riding post between Brain- tree and Boston. Mrs. Adams was the first mistress of the White House. The building was unfinished and unfurnished, and she maintained but little style. The building could neither be lighted nor warmed. The famous East room was used for drying clothes. Madison and Moneoe both were financially embar- rassed and died poor. Jackson lived upon his income and carried to Washington plain manners of the Her- mitage. He spent his summers at the little island opposite Norfolk, known as the Eip Raps. Here, in a room without a carpet, sitting in a rush-bottomed chair, tipped back, coat off, feet in slippers, with a cob- pipe in his mouth, he gave audience to ambassa- dors. Yan Bxjken had the Dutch thrift. During his full term he lived upon his private fortune, and carried his salary home with him to Kinder- hook in gold, Polk was accounted the meanest &LAMOUR OF PUBLIC LIFE. 223 President that ever sat in the chair of Washington. He knew the value of a dollar. His team was the shabbiest in the capitol. His coach was a second-hand hack, and his horses looked like broken-down beasts who had served their time in a city omnibus. The presidency found Feank. Pierce boarding in a story- and-a-half wood cottage at Concord, with a carpenter. He was economy personified. He kept a working suit which he wore in his office, and which he changed when it was necessary to see company. He carried out of the White House fifty thousand dollars which he saved out of his income. The Bachelor Presi- dent, James Buchanan, was a rigid economist. Na lawyer's clerk would dress as slouchily. He main- tained no style. On Sundays, he walked from the White House to the little Presbyterian church on F street. He usually came late, shuffled up the aisle, dodged into a wall pew, and seemed tb doze through the service. One day I stood on the piazza of a mansion that had been occupied by one of the most eminent men of the land. Two young men were reclining in the shade. They were handsome fellows, highly educated and talented. They were born to everything that men covet. They could have been merchant princes or been eminent in the law. Had they selected public life, family, influence would have carried them high. The public life of their father ruined them. They flung everything away, and when they were sober, earned a precarious livelihood by exhibiting the mansion in which their distinguished relative died. 224 aUCGESSFUL FOLKS. LXXXVI. TRADES THAT RUIN. T is not possible to conduct some kinds of business on honorable principles. Some trades defile like pitch. Rum-selling, haz- ard-policy business, horse-jockeying, and kindred pursuits, impart their flavor to all engaged in them. Theatricals, without discussing the question of morality or immorality, is a terrible trade for all en- gaged in it. This is proved, not only by the life and and death of actors, but from the testimony of the most successful of the profession. Macready' s Rem- iniscences and the recently, published statements of Fanny Kemble Butler, show that breaking stones on the road and shoveling coal are pastimes compared with the stage. Not twenty-five in twenty-five years make anything by the trade. Ninety-five out of a hundred die poor, and but for assistance would die in want. The income to star actors during a few brief sunny days is very large. The extravagance indispens- able to popular life forbids economy. To the actor the winter of want comes early and remains long. This is especially true of Avomen on thj stage. With the least roughness of voice, grossness of person, or pallor of cheek, the favorite is whistled down the wind, and a new idol installed. A woman radiant in diamonds, — in satins and lace, — imperious to managers and haughty to the public, is one person. The same woman lying in a back attic, depending on charity for her surgeon and her broth, scarcely able to command the offices of religion, shows another side. The dra- matic profession reverse both the rules of trade and morality. Extravagance is a law, day is turned into BLUR OF IMPEBTINENOE. 335 night, heated viands are dernanded, stimulants are necessary to keep up the tone, and no handwriting is needed to predict the end. Booth in the height of his fame with a lordly in- come squandered half a million and became a bank- rupt. For a hundred years this has been the record of theatrical life as a business. Any city will afford illus- trations of the trades that ruin. One of the lordly mansions on Brooklyn Heights, was owned by a man who began trade in the smallest way. When he be- came rich all his judgment and prudence forsOok him, and with the fragments of his fortune he retired to the country. Albert Barnes, like Milton, Dr. Dwight, and other «minent men, ruined his health by violating physical law. With the labors of a large city charge upon him he became a noted author. He worked when othei.' men slept. He paid for his extravagance by the early loss of his eyesight. LXXXVII. BLUR OF IMPERTINENCE. f]OME SMART young men ruin themselves by allowing their smartness to slide into imper- tinence. Talent and temper often go to- gether. It is rare to find a sharp man that is a courteous man. It is true, as the proverb saith : "A diamond with a flaw is better than a pebble without." But the flaw adds nothing to the value of the diamond. 15 226 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. What is known as old-school politeness is a rare com- modity in trade, for our young men seem to cultivate rudeness and incivility. A smart salesman lost his *place because he was rude to small buyers. A bright room-clerk was turned adrift because, as the landlord said, he " sassed the boarders." A well-known adver- tising agent in New York won a fortune by his bland- ness and civility. He is losing custom every day by the impudence of his employees. It is noted that in- civility increased as customers go down the line, till they reach the porter, who is generally civil. On Broadway, near Canal, in a very large dry -goods house, a walking -gentleman drives away custom from the house every day. I stood in the store one day and heard a question put to the man. It was one that a gentleman might ask and one that a gentleman would certainly answer. The walking-gentleman was doing nothing, yet he returned not only an impertinent but a rude reply. The visitor turned upon his heel and walked out. If he had a bill of goods to purchase, he would not have bought them at that house. A SLIP OF A BOY was Selling tickets at the office of the Brooklyn City Railroad. A lady in deep mourn- ing asked for a package of tickets and laid down a two- dollar bill. The lad threw down two packages of tick- ets. The lady declined to receive but one, and asked for her change. The boy flew at the woman ; covered her with abuse because he made a mistake in giving her two packages when she asked for but one. I was amused at the astonishment of a New Yorker who htid his first experience in being waited upon by a Yankee girl. We were at a restaurant on the line of the Con- cord Railroad. Her father ran the restaurant, the .mother cooked, and the daughter " waited and tended." The giri had been two quarters at an academy, read the BLUR OF IMPERTINENCE. 227 Atlantic Monthly, and was as, "good as anybody." The merchant had been served by Germans, Swedes, and Dutch, by Jew and Christian ; by black waiters and by white. This was a new experience, being served by a New England young woman. She stood stiff as a broom-stick, saying nothing, waiting for orders. " What have you got ?" " There' s the bill of fare. " " Can I have some hard-boiled eggs 1" " 1 presume you can." " Have you nice coffee V " You must judge for your- self. " " Are your pies fresh ?" " We don' t bake old pies here." She got her order and walked away the worst- used girl in the State. She was a simpleton ; having volunteered the work she should have done it cheer- fully. PoETEB, of the Fall River line, is the most popular conductor in Massachusetts. He is known the country over for his civility. For twenty years he has run the steamboat train from Fall River to Boston. He began life as a brakeman on a freight train in Vermont. He came to Fall River and took the same position on the line. He soon became conductor of a freight train. When his value was found out, he was j)ut upon the passenger train. Women and children are put in his care, and are as well cared for as if the husband and father had been along. He is prompt, civil, intelli- gent ; he has a civil word for everybody ; he never tires answering questions, and answers the last man as civilly as the first one. He is as important a part of the Fall River line as the steamer Bristol. A gentleman went into a well-known store on Beek- man street, to look at some garden vases. The clerk was reading a paper. The price of the vases was asked. The clerk, without looking up, pertly replied : " Look on the card and you'll see." The man 'did not 328 SUOOESSPUL FOLKS. look on the card, but walked out of the store, and bought his goods elsewhere. A hairdresser in one of the principal hotels had an assistant who made himself very unpopular. He was a good shaver, and artistic in hair-cutting, yet nobody wanted him. It turned out that the fellow had a cate- chism for every customer : " Who shaved you ? Shave yourself? Your hair's thin! Have a bottle of sage tea, bring your hair all out % Shampoo ? Take a bath 1" If no attention was paid to this gabble, the man had a way of giving the head a twist, for admonition. LXXXVIII. BUSINESS FOR WOMEN. HERE is no law human or divine that pro- hibits a woman from doing anything that she is competent to do. According to the Bible, she has been priestess, lawyer, doctor, ruler, warrior, judge, navigator, horticulturist, trader, author, poet and sculptor. There are two domains in life. Woman can take her choice, but she can't occupy both. She can't select what is nice and delicate in woman and what is delicate in man. If she takes a man's place she must do a man's work, and rough it like a man. She must train, be on the police, run with the engine and stand up in the cars. If she is success- ful, it will not be because she is a woman, but because she does well what she does. If she is an eloquent BUSmmS FOE women. S39 preacher, she will have hearers ; learned iij the law, she will have clients ; a skillful doctor, she will have patients. So she will have _ contracts if she knows how to paint, builds well, and is good at speculation. The Queen of England is one of the best business women in the kingdom ; every inch a queen ; an ac- complished house-keeper; a great economist, who knows how to get a shilling's worth of goods for a shilling's worth of money. She is said to higgle with her butcher, and knows what the green-grocer leaves at the castle. I heard a debate in the home department of the castle whether a curtain should be mended or a new one put up. Economy carried the day. An American Bridget would not have had the curtain up in her room any way. The Royal children were all trained to a trade. The Prince of Wales is a good mechanic. The Royal Alfred can wear his ship in a gale. The Princess Royal is one of the best house- keepers in Germany. The Princess Louise is an ad- mirable sculptor. All the girls can sew, mend, brew and bake. The Queen knows what her ministers are about. She signs no papers that she does not read. She does up her immense personal correspondence daily before breakfast. Martha Washingtotst was a business woman. She spent her winters in the camp during the war ; not in idleness, but rendering efficient services. Besides her domestic talent, her ability to take care of the stock, to sell the crop and run the farm at Mt. Vernon, in elegance and grace she was every inch a queen at her levees. Lucy Knox was the daughter of the Provisional Secretary. She took sides with the Revolution when it broke out, and fled from her father's hottie, sewing up her husband's sword in her 330 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. cloak. Elizabeth Endicott heard the guns at Banker Hill. In front of her house she saw a troop of soldiers loitering in the tavern. In her night-dress, with her hair falling over her shoulders, she presented herself to the astonished soldiers, who thought her a spirit, and shouted, "Why on earth don't you march ? Don't you hear the guns at Charlestown ?" The affrighted men fled, and gave a good account of themselves in the day's conflict. SiXTT miles out at sea is a tufted sandbank. On it lived a young lady celebrated for her domestic virtues. She was a friend of children, and kept a little arsenal to repair mutilated whips, tops and dolls. By day she took the burdens from an invalid mother. By night she assisted her father, sweeping the heavens with her glass. The King of Denmark offered a prize of a gold medal. Nobles and scholars contended for it. The island maiden bqre away the gift from unwilling hands. A TOTJN& girl came from the banks of the Merrimac and offered herself as a missionary to India. The mis- sion cause was less popular then than now. It was de- nounced as an outrage that a young girl should be sent to the heathen. She was accepted, notwithstanding. She did her life-work on heathen ground, and was buried among the women she sought to save. Her monument — an opia tree — is honored in all the world. Shipmas- ters of aU nations dip their flags when they pass it. DETECTIVES AT WOBE. 231 LXXXIX. DETECTIVES AT WORK. HE network' of detective influence covers a great city. ' It is one of the most efficient systems in the land. Its meshes spread everywhere. Bank clerks and salesmen are shadowed for weeks without their knowing it. A per- fect chart of a man's life is written out, and he has not the slightest idea he is suspected. It is a lever of great power in the hands of jealous men and maddened women. Men who rank high in commercial and social life often maintain two or three establishments. The surrogate's court shows the saddest side of city life. Two, three, and often four women, quarrel over a dead man's property, each claiming it. It costs money to run two or three houses, and this is indispensable to avoid exposure. A clerk runs away with his master' s money ; cashier uses bonds intrusted to his keeping ; man of fifty 'soils the fame he has been twenty-five years in earning. Heavy houses come down with a crash, and detectives alone can tell the cause. The life of a detective is full of romance, as a single instance will show. A woman, fifty years old, the wife of a merchant, was invited to call upon her doctor. The doctor had an unpleasant duty to perform. Her husband was alienated from her, and would live with her no more. He would provide handsomely for her, and with that she must be content. The blow felled her to the floor, and it was weeks before she recovered her reason. The wife knew that there was a woman in the case, and a33 SUCCE8BFUL FOLKS. she resolved to break tlie infatuation. Slie called in a detective, and placed the whole matter in his hands. In a short time the detective had the whole matter within his grasp. The woman was a rich widow with large possessions in Virginia. The merchant gave her a fine house, furnished from cellar to garret, dressed her in silks and sables, and footed all her bills. The detective believed the widow to be a fraud. She kept boarders, and prominent among them was the husband of her sister. The detective put a shadow in the house, and kept a run of matters. The merchant had to draw heavily upon his firm, and was nearly ruined. A new call was made ; the widow wanted a coupe, a set of diamonds for Christmas, and money for her sister's husband. One morning a stranger called upon the merchant and wanted to show him a fine turnout. He seemed to know all aboiit the merchant's business, and what he wanted. A little startled and a little curious they jumped into a carriage, and drove to a well-known up- town hotel. Here he was brought face to face with hi* wife, whom he had not seen for months. The widow was unmasked and her crimes laid bare ; he saw how his money went, and that he was the laughing-stock of the street. The infatuation was at an end — the man proposed to denounce the woman and forsake her. The cool detective had other plans laid — he invited the widow to meet a friend at a well-known trysting-plac(^ to look at some diamonds and a coupe, iirging her to remain from eleven to one in case business should de- tain the merchant. The woman was promptly on hand. She had hardly left the door before a number of vans drove up, attended by a small army of men. The house was riddled in an hour ; Parisian furniture, stat- uary and pictures, silverware and damask curtains, Moquet carpets, and wines disappeared. The widpw susAiar A. KiNa. 233 waited half the afternoon, and eame back in a fury. The bell was answered by the detective, who said to- the astonished woman, ' ' Your game is up. This house is empty — you have no rights here. But, raa,rk, don't annoy the merchant ; keep away from the store ; don't send any notes to the family or to the house, or I will pull you for your past crimes." The infatuation and the blackmailing were both at an end. XC. SUSAN A. KING. ISS KING is one of the best business women in New York. From poverty she has worked herself up to the position of a mil- lionaire. As a trader, she is keen, judicious and successful. Some of her speculations, which would have ruined most operators, have yielded her thousands in profit. Her success grows out of her methods of management. The trustees of the Union Theological Seminary comprise some of the most emi- nent business men in the State. Miss King sold to these gentlemen, at an enormous profit, a piece of land for the new building, for a price that no other specula- tor could have obtained. Miss King is about fifty years of age. She is of medium height, with features, very plain, but marked. Without any style, dressing plain as a washerwoman, holding in contempt the fenci- inine graces, wearing her hair with a careless twist fastened behind in a knot. She is a fluent talker and 284 8U0GES8FUL FOLKS. coins money with, her tongue. She could outargue the schoolmaster, and defend her views anywhere. Miss King was born in Maine. Her childhood was a rough one. She caught a little schooling here and there, but her young life was doomed to hard toil. In the parlance of the village, she was old King's daugh- ter. When a child she did a woman's work. She was called up before light in the winter, and waded through the deep snow to the woodpile, and kindled her fires with green brush. Beside being a poor farmer, her father was a drover. The girl had a knack for trading, and often tramped with her father from place to place. She showed great tact at a bargain. She was not so engrossed in trade as not to know the value of an edu- cation. Algebra and the higher mathematics had a charm, but they were denied to her. The pampered school children asked, ' ' What does old King' s daugh- ter want of algebra ?" The girl did not propose to be a drudge all her days. As her relatives would do nothing for her she undertook to do something for herself. She found her way to JSTew York with a few shilling's in her pocket, and a guitar in her hand. She resorted to all sorts of expedients to live, doing no dishonorable thing, and nev®r running into debt. Miss King threw a little light upon her early conflicts when she said ao a loafing acquaintance who wished to borrow money : ' ' Go to work and not be loafing around here. What would I d.o if I hadn' t any money ? I would do the dirtiest honest work in New York. When I had earned twenty-five cents I would invest in peanuts and sell them at the corners of the street — sleep on bare boards — live on bread and water till I earned something better." Susan's guitar stood her in good stead. She got pupils by it, opened a school and earned money enough to trade with. With her, employment was to SUSAir A. EIFG. 235 get money. Her friends were alarmed at her course. They predicted that a girl that was tramping around New York selling small wares would come to no good end. Every step in trade was an upward one. In 1859 she had her agents with wagons and horses selling good.s, Bast, West and South. The howlings of civil war were heard on every hand, Miss King bade her little company scamper North. Before she could dispose of her property the conflict began. She sold everything she could sell, belted her gold round her waist, and started homeward. She was arrested over and over again. She was quick-witted, and made the best of the situation. She talked treason vrith traitors, was a rebel with graybacks, and with two or three thousand dollars' worth of gold on her person she arrived safely in New York. This money she wisely invested, and the conflict which seemed to ruin her financially laid the foundations for immense wealth. Miss King is a great friend to women. She spends no time in talking or depicting on platforms Woman' s Wrongs. She looked round to see if anything could be done to give women remunerative employment — work that should be light and profitable. Banking was thought of, but that was too complicated. Life in- surance was impracticable. The founding of a Woman' s Tea Company was resolved upon. Its success would depend upon the brand of tea. To select this. Miss King must visit China. She had no adviser, associate, patron, or friend. She had money and good common sense. Against the protest of the officials, British and American, Miss King mapped out an excursion into the interior of China ; where no white person had ever gone except two Jesuits, and they were killed. The Chinese authorities could not protect her, and the American consul washed his hands of the conse- 230 • SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. quences. Miss King asked no favors ; she took a chair and some coolies, and proposed to be responsible for the rest. She took her perilous journey alone, and without harm. She dressed like a Chinese; chow- chowed with the natives ; burned sticks in the Joss houses, saluted the gods with fire-crackers, ate monkey, rabbits, rats, or whatever was set before her, climbed up the sacred eight-story Pagoda, looked down upon the seething crowd, shouted hurrah ! and received the assuring response : Hi-hi ! Miss King re- turned safe to her native shores, having accomplished the aim of her visit. Many of her early acquaintances who treated her with scorn and contempt are very glad to make her acquaintance and borrow her money. She led the Midnight Mission movement, founded the Home for Old Ladies, and lent a helping hand to re- lieve want and sorrow everywhere. XCI. W. A. FRITS. HIS gentleman is famous as being the succes- sor of the Stuarts in the manufacture and sale of pure candies. From 1806 to 1853 the Stuarts, father and sons, were the great candy-makers of the nation. No house had a humbler beginning. It was not proposed that the boys should be candy-makers. Robert went into a dry-goods house ; he was not then Robert L. Alexander was born on the spot where he now lives in Chambers street. He took to W. A. FMirS. 337 sign painting. There is now a sign in lower New York still in existence wMcli Alexander painted. He had such a love for the brush that long after the business was large, he sat on a little stool made for the purpose and marked the boxes for candy in an artistic manner. The firm of Ridley & Co. was made up of Robert A. Ridley, Wm. Kennedy, W. A. Frits, Wm. Force, all old employees of the Stuarts. As the Stuarts were to abandon the manufacture of candy, and these men had made all the candy for years, they proposed to take the business into their hands. The principle adopted by the firm was to manufacture pure candy, to buy the purest materials, sugars, colors, fiavors, without regard to cost, and to make nothing and to sell nothing but the purest and best article that could be made. For a quarter of a century this rule has been adhered to. The good name of the house has never suffered, and the Ridley candy is known and used in the four quarters of the globe. Adulteration is a com- mon trade in New York. Everything is adulterated. Food, coffee, spices, and candy. Science aids in pro- moting the frauds in trade. Cheap mustard is njade out of yellow ochre, poor red pepijer and terra-alba. Pepper, mace, allspice, and cloves are made from maggotty shipbread and impure ingredients. There is scarcely a spice or a flavor that is not adulterated, and the vilest stuff imaginable is sold by the ton. The candy of commerce is more than anything else adulterated. There is an immense trade in this impure manufacture. It ranks with mock auctions, counter- feit diamonds, sham Jewelry, and shoddy cloth. One hundred pounds of impure candy is sold to one xiound of sugar candy. A box of candy of commerce con- tains poison enough to kill an ox, and that which is not poisonous is too filthy to be eaten. Terra-alba, which takes the place of sugar, is an Irish earth with a 338 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. peculiar grain. With this dust is mixed, turpentine, coal-dust, lampblack, blacking, fusil oil, prussic acid and glue. These materials are worked up into candy, sugar-plums, gum-drops, and chocolate cream. The refuse of slaughter-houses is used, and butchers notify their customers when they have a barrel sufficiently filthy. Young veal — the younger the better — takes the place of gelatine ; prussic acid for almonds ; poison- ous pear-drops for peach ; rotten cheese and sulphuric acid for apple, and tonka bean for vanilla. A favorite brand of sugar for adulterated candy is known as ship sugar. This is a sweeping from the hold and deck of a vessel, moistened with bilge water. These sweepings are so profitable that lawsuits have arisen with regard to the division of the profits. A pound of ship sugar mingled with four pounds of Irish earth yields five pounds of cheap candy. The coloring of adulterated candy is often poisonous, red lead, aniline, and other equally pernicious matter being used. Cheap chocolate cream is often made of tallow, coal-tar, a thin layer of chocolate, with flavoring to suit. The great market for adulterated candy is the West and South. Men who buy it know what they are doing. They know that they are not buying sugar candy, gum arable, liquorice and genuine oil. They buy Irish dirt, ship sugar, lampblack, fusil oil, red lead, rotten cheese and the refuse of slaughter-houses. Against this style of business Ridley & Co. have placed the manufacture of pure confectionery, running over a score of years. Not a house stands to-day that manufactures adulterated candy that was in existence when that of Ridley started. The fame of the Ridley candy has crossed the seas. The Honorable Mrs. Bates received from the Barings a box of Ridley' s hore- hound candy. Visiting the Duchess of Sutherland, she found her ladyship suffering with a cold. She BBEAOH OF TBU8T. 239 sent her a package of candy. This package the Duch- ess divided with Her Majfesty, who was also afflicted with a cough. She obtained such relief that the Queen ordered through Brown & Bro. a hundredweight of the candy. This order was annually renewed for a series of years.' Now De Castro in the Strand, grocers to the Queen, keep a supply on hand for use at the cas- tle and the Royal family. XCII. BEEACH OF TRUST. ORB business men are ruined by breaches of trust than by downright dishonesty. It is the stepping-stone to embezzlement and crime. It is a snare set in sight of the bird. Men who would not steal a dollar or put wrongfully a shil- ling into their pocket, will betray their trust. Men in charge of public funds wiU allow them to go on the street under solemn promise of making the loan good. The little pittance of widows and orphans is squandered in wild speculations because men are not faithful to their stewardship. A man wants an office. There is a great deal of money to be handled, and he must have bondsmen. Bondsmen are ready, for they expect to use their vic- tim. The official means to do right. The vdly bonds- man watches his opportunity. He pours a fine tale into the ear of the confiding treasurer : " We have got the best thing out ; we want a few thousands ; you have 24:0 mCOESSFUL FOLKS. money lying idle ; you may as well turn it ; you shall fare as well as the rest of us ; the security is ample ; the payment certain ; the gain large." If the hope of gain does not answer, then a threat is tried : " Others accommodate us and you must, or we shall take our name from your bond, and then where are you ?" The timid fool yields, and loans a small sum. Demands are frequent and the sums larger. The man is at the raercy of sharpers. His moral force is gone. He lies, falsi- fies ; lives on his nerves ; spends his nights over his accounts, and finally flees the country or goes to State prison. All this without a cent' s advantage to himself. Honest men often betray their trust by loaning their names to sharpers and upholding fraudulent institu- tions and bogus corporations. Their names are wanted as decoys. They are directors in institutions which are run by mere boys, and they have no more idea of the soundness of the institution or the principles upon which it is run, than they have of the Bank of Kams- catka. By the aid of famous names men handle thou- sands whom their acquaintances would not tiust with ten dollars. Business men wake up some fine morning and find that an official is on his way to Europe ; a cashier has taken the entire funds of a savings bank and departed, and a trust company, "sound as the government," has gone down with a crash, ruining thousands. In each case the list of directors was long enough and honorable enough, but the men paid no at- tention to their duties ; did not intend to do so when they were appointed. The State of Maine elected a treasurer. He was a clergyman, but not in charge of any church. He was a great reformer, and his repute was like gold tried in the fire. He had not been in office a year be- fore he was removed and removed because he misused BREACH OF TRUST. 'SAX the funds of the State. For his own use he would not have abstracted a copper. His bondsmen used the "money. Politicians speculated with the public funds, and left worthless collaterals as security. The man ■was as much of a wreck as though he had stolen for Ms own use fifty thousand dollars. In twelve months he threw away the reputation of a life. The Tkeasttker of the American Board held his position for years. He conducted its financial affairs with consummate prudence and skill. The drafts of the Board were honored in all parts of the world. He re- signed, without a stain upon his repute. He opened a banking-house, and had the confidence of the religious world. Trust moneys were put into his hand. The savings of a lifetime were given to him for safe- keeping. Missionaries abroad and poor preachers at home were only too thankful that in such honest hands their gains were lodged. Seamstresses and girls out at service put into the house their slender sav- ings. The treasurer was honest enough. Not so a relative who ran the business. He used the funds on deposit with the wildest kind of speculation. The house came down, carrying ruin and dismay on all sides. The crime of the treasurer was a breach of trust — taking money he did not intend to guard. A young man rose very high in a Boston Bank, through his integrity and ability. The trait which distinguished him from childhood was truthfulness. One morning the bank was not open. The facts came out that the cashier was a defaulter, and had run away during the night. The sum lost to the bank was a very large one, yet the cashier was not one dollar the richer. It was the old story of a breach of trust, — influential men tempted him, bank officials got loans on bogus 16 243 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. security. He was kept under the harrow for years,, with exposure hourly staring him in the face. Expo- sure came at last, with the loss of everything, with the ruin of all his friends, with death in a mad house. A man of Eminent financial ability was president of an important bank. He was one of the most influ- ential men in the State. His integrity was without a stain. The business community was shocked to learn that the directors had demanded his resignation, and that the bank examiners were overhauling his affairs. The president had placed to his own account twelve thousand dollars for speculative purposes. The bank could lose nothing, for the security was ample. But the act was an indiscretion which could not be over- looked — ^in other words, he was guilty of a breach of trust. Prom the consequences of that act he never recovered. XCIII. ISAAC HALL, IRON MERCHANT. R. HALL is an iron merchant, dealing princi- pally in chains and cables. For thirty years he has done business upon the same spot. He is a man of fine presence, with a stature that attracts attention, and is a cool, persistent, intelli- gent and successful business man. He is descended from the English Friends, and inherited little except a healthy constitution and a steady determination to do right. He took his first lesson in self-control S A A C H A L. L. ISAAC HALL, IRON MEBGUANT. 243 when a lad. He was at work on a farm, and was ordered to clear up the briisli. He gathered the stuff around a stump and set it on fire. A high wind spread the conflagration on all sides, and as he looked upon the devastation, he firmly resolved never again to act from impulse. He was a resolute, painstaking lad, hard-worked and poorly-paid. He was self-reliant, and sold berries from the blueberry patch, and snared rabbits, with which he bought his toys and his clothes. He resided in Hudson, and the city at that time was heavy in the whale fishery. Ships were fitted out every year for the Pacific. Isaac was fascinated with the work of a blacksmith. The glaring forge and the ringing anvil filled him with delight, and he resolved to learn the trade. After the order of the day he was bound out at a salary of thirty-five dollars a year. He was over- worked, under-fed and shamefully treated. Yet he carefully hoarded his little gains. When he was free his master owed him one hundred dollars. This he refused to pay, applying it to an old debt due from Isaac' s father. He found work in New York in 1838, and went at it steadily and prudently. Year by year he laid up a little money and was enabled to set up business for himself. He found the work of the shipsmith very profitable, but an accident opened to him a new field of wealth. A Chinese junk was moored oflf the Battery. Her ground tackle was wood, her anchor, teek, her cables rattan. This rigging was not suitable for our waters, and Mr. Hall was applied to to furnish anchors and chains. He saw a profit in this, and added cables and anchors to his regular busi- ness. He can now furnish a vessel of any tonnage at a moments' notice. He had adroitness enough to make friends vdth the corporation and he covers the side- walk and the highway with his stock. Mr. Hall was appointed Healthmaster and Dock 244 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. Warden in 1843. He liad ample opportunity to make money by levying tributes on the captains, as was the custom. He refused to extort money from any one, and never charged anything beyond the legal fees. He had ample opportunity for speculation. He had early notice of improvements v^hich the city proposed to make. He refused to enter the seductive fields of speculation, and chose rather to beat out a fortune on his own anvil. His principles forbid over-reaching or taking advantage of any man' s necessity. He acquired a large fortune by industry, probity, and liberality. His celebrated baths at the Battery were opened in 1857. For extent and thoroughness they have no equal. Draped with flags, pendants and bunting, they give a gala-day appearance to the Battery, and are a popular resort of the citizens of ISTew York. Mr. Hall has the rare gift of making his mistakes benefit him. He, never but once burnt up a farm ; no man but his master has been able to cheat him out of his wages ; and once was enough for him to pay with his earnings other peoples' debts. He was frank and manly as a boy. Tired of turning the grindstone, he run off the handle and sold it. He did not sleep well that night. The next morning he confessed his wrong, repurchased the handle, and put it back in its place. Mr. Hall owns his own stock, buys for cash, and can- not be undersold. His long and unvarying success established the fact that it is profitable to sell honest goods at an honest price. Mr. Hall has an elegant home on the Heights, where he dispenses a liberal hospitality, and devotes his fortune in aid of the benevolent and religious charities of the age. POWERS, OF THE QBAND CENTRAL. 845 XCIV. POWERS, OF THE GRAND CENTRAL. lOLLIS L. POWERS is one of the most suc- cessful hotel-keepers of New York. The Grand Central was constructed from his own plans, and is admitted to be one of the most commodious and elegant in the State. Hotel-keeping is an uncertain trade. It is like editing a newspaper, — every man thinks he can do it, but only one here and there makes a success at it. Taking the last fifty years, only about ten out of a hundred have escaped ship- wreck in the hotel line. Bgys inherit the hotel, but do not inherit their father's character or capacity. Young Powers was born in Vermont, and he left home to secure employment. He found it in the United States Hotel in Boston, where he began life as a hall- boy. He was genial, intelligent, and useful, and soon won a clerkship. He passed a summer at the St. Law- rence Hotel, Philadelphia. At that time Mr. Earle was keeping a small hotel opposite the Astor House. The house was well run, charges were moderate, it was always full, and made money. Earle, who had an eye for smart men, secured young Powers as an assistant. He exhibited marked talent and tact in hotel life, mak- ing himself very popular as room-clerk, and display- ing an unusual force of character. He was prudent and saving, to which traits he joined great enterprise. He knew a good bargain when he saw it, and made a good deal of money, while Mr. Earle supposed he was fully absorbed in the hotel. He had the gift of silence to a remarkable degree ; he seldom spoke, except in 210 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. the way of business, had no confidants, managed Ms own affairs, and kept his own counsel. The lease of the Earle hotel was a valuable one, and the proprietor intended to renew it. He was a sharp man, and did not wish to seem anxious. When the renewal was offered to him he declined to accept it at once — i)roposed to consider it, hoping the rent would be lower. Powers saw his opportunity and followed it up. He took the lease on the terms offered, pocketed his bargain, and went about his work. Mr. Earle was astounded at the audacity of his clerk when he found what he had done, and could not express his feelings when he found himself turned out of doors and his silent clerk in possession. A practical and an accom- plished hotel proprietor Powers proved himself to be, able to turn his hand to anything. He knew all the details of hotel life. He soon outgrew the little tavern. He looked around for a position equal to his ability. The Grand Central was in the market, though unfin- ished, and was a prize worth taking. The location was superb, and the capacity of the house could not be excelled. Powers secured a sixteen years' lease and completed the house according to his own ideas of ex- cellence and comfort. He could handle anything from the furnace to the skylight. He had some rare traits for his position. Elegant in stature and attractive in manners, courteous but decided, a willing listener, but not to be imposed upon, of fine taste, and one of the best dressed men in the city. He had great command over men, seldom speaking to any one except on busi- ness, and holding a personal inspection over every part of the hotel ; a great economist, yet generous to the poor, often filling the baskets with his own hands. His application to business was marvelous, and he seemed never to tire. His investments have been judi- cious, and he could if he would live on his fortune. WILD OATS AND THBIB HARVEST. 247 His hotel gives Mm no trouble, and in the wildest ex- citement he remains as cool as a general on a battle- field. XCV. WILD OATS AND THBIE HARVEST. YOUNG man who sows his wild oats in youth often reaps them in mature life. A colonel of one of the regiments, who is especially cold-blooded and selfish, used his regiment for his own advancement. He moved his regiment on a terrific hot Sunday thirtj'' miles without halting, and had no compassion, though men were sun- struck. To please gay ladies in the camp, he ordered dress-parades under a tropic sun, though men dropped down in the ranks. . He obtained^ what he coveted — rank and position. He held his position without honor and was dismissed with heavy charges resting upon him. He began life bad, and but for merciful judges would have been adjudged criminal. Dyke, a well-known peanut vender on the Kansas Railroad, was intelligent and civil. He drove a fine trade, for the nuts were fresh and the measure large. One day he visited a banker and asked the loan of five dollars. He had no security. He wanted to buy a paper stand, and named what bonus he was willing to give. The banker said: "That's 200 per cent." "I don't care, I can make it." The banker made a bar- :gain, bought the stand, and when the boy had mad© 248 SUCGESSFUL FOLKS. five dollars, he transferred it to him. In less than a month he was the owner of the stock in trade, on hia way to a fortune. With few exceptions, costly restaueants and exorbitant bUls of fare don't bring a fortune. Men who make money out of hotel keeping have low prices, snug rooms which they keep always full. In lower New York, there are half a dozen hotels which have made the fortune of a dozen men. The same is true of eating-houses. A popular house, with a good run of custom, is a fortune to any man who can wait. Some of these chop-houses are fifty years old. They are not much to look at. The rickety, tumble-down ruins are in narrow lanes. The seats have no backs, the tables no cloths, and the only attempt at ornament is sand on the floor. The keeper waits on his customers. In his white apron, coat off, he puts the reeking steak on the table. He stews, fries, and broils. Eminent merchants stand in a line from twelve till one, waiting to be- served. The man who waits upon them could buy out half, and live on Fifth avenue if he would. At one time the sun-dial in trade and honesty, and even decency, seems to have been put back. A man with very marked talent and audacity came to the sur- face. He did openly what others do secretly, and carried his vices on his sleeve. He drove his four-in- hand, filled with frail ladies, through the Park on Sunday to show his audacity. He made money, and it was nobody's business what he did with it. He- made a Garden Mabille of Plymouth Rock, run it on Sundays, and filled it with music, dancing, wine and women. He imported French actresses for his Sunday theater, and fathers and guardians were seen around the house looking for their sons. The man's end wa» WILD OATS AND THBIB HARVEST. 24S> tragical, and lie left behind Mm lawsuits wMclx will last his widow all her life. On one of the city eaileoads a man rides up every morning between three and four o'clock. He' dresses well, lives in style, has given his daughters a fine education, and has a pew in a fashionable church. He is a gambler by trade and has followed his profession twenty -five years. He has done what not one man in ten thousand could do, and had nerve enough to follow a style of life that has made his calling a success. He^ never drinks, for he must have his nerves under perfect control. He acts under a perfect system. He plays- while he wins. He limits his losses, and no persuasioa can induce him to risk his luck beyond the sum named. This line of life he has pursued for a quarter of a cen- tury with the average in his favor. A LAWYER eminent in the real estate business for twenty-five years built up and amassed a fortune. His judgment was excellent and he held in his hands large trusts. Through all his life little tricks were- charged on him, and there were little blurs on his busi- ness repute. The probability is he was never honest,, but the exact temptation did not reach him till late in life. He collected all the money he could collect, bor- rowed all he could borrow, and fled in the night, leav- ing thousands in sorrow and ruin. A New York politician bought some Rochester oil land. A spout of oil came up on the working full fifty feet high. People from miles around came tp look at the sight and every one was allowed to carry away a cup of oil. The man was offered a quarter million for the property. Ten thousand dollars would have exceeded his wildest thought at the beginning. ^50 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. Why should he sell for a quarter million what was worth a million ? Ten thousand dollars were expended in machinery to develop the well. One day an ex- plosion took place, and men, crowbars and tools were blown sky-high. An acre of land would now be dear at twenty-five dollars. Some men trade on their religion. They carry a Bible under their arm on ferry boats, and about their business. They distribute tracts to -customers and relate their experience before they trade horses. Nobody thinks any better of them for this, for they are no better than other people. Some men make a living at Fulton street daily prayer-meeting by borrowing money, and the leader has to constantly guard strangers against imposition. A well-known railroad man had scruples about letting the street cars run on Sunday, but he had no scruples about over- issuing stock. Men work harder to be infamous than they would have to work to get an honest living. Rascality is a trade that requires more talent than honesty. The convicts in the State prison have worked harder to wear a prison garb than any college student works to • obtain his diploma. To be vile, men fling everything away that is worth possessing, and devote themselves to rascality with an energy worthy of a better cause. Men study chemistry that they may be expert crimi- nals. They become splendid penmen that they may 3ommit forgery ; skillful engravers that they may counterfeit ; ingenious mechanics that they may forge tools for burglary. Men spend months in laying plans to defraud a bank, and all their labor and skill is re- warded by dog's wages and dishonor, with the State prison. Ten thousand men have worked their way up from penury to fortune, but not a single case can be found of permanent success attending rascality. All np and down Broadway are elegantly-furnished CHEATING THE DOMINIE. 251 offices with velvet cairpets and rosewood furniture. Handsome as these rooms appear, they are simply dens to entrap the simple. The rooms are selected with an ■eye to fraud. T]iey open on two streets. Jewelry, gloves, silks, watches, and valuables pass the threshold and are never seen more. These frauds drive a brisk, sharp, short trade, and then disappear. Social frauds are conducted on a complete system. The post-office is used to secure victims. Agents tra- verse the country and select their victims, promising them work, position, situation and money. Hundreds of innocent people are decoyed into the great cities, are ruined by sharpers, who prey upon the unwary. XCVI. CHEATING THE DOMINIE. CLASS of men live by defrauding ministers. A well-known pastor was visited by a young woman, evidently at service. Herself and friend had been converted by a sermon preached by the pastor. Both proposed to unite with the church, but sickness and death prevented. It was her friend' s dying request that the pastor should attend the funeral. ' ' Was there any society that aided in bury- ing the dead ?" Sickness and death had consumed the little earnings of both. Everything was provided for but a grave. There was no society, but the pastor ten- dered the young woman five dollars. This she refused stoutly, and finally accepted it as a loan. At the ap- 253 successful' FOLKS. pointed hour the pastor took a coach and started foi the funeral. He found the street and the number: there was no funeral, and there was no corpse ; nobody- had been sick, and nobody died. The whole story was a pure invention to secure five dollars. A pastor came out of his pulpit one Sunday and was met by an invalid. He was just discharged from the hospital : had heard no preaching for three months, and was delighted to hear a Gospel sermon. He called the next morning at the parsonage. He was quite lame ; had failed in his remittance, and wanted a little money to get home. The pastor had heard of a similar case, and asked the invalid to step around with him and see a brother minister. As the minister pulled the door-bell, he accidentally looked around, when he saw his lame friend a half a block off, running like a deer. XCVII. CLERICAL. IRREGULARITIES. N all professions and callings there is an aver^ age of bad men. The ministry is no excep- tion. The ministry is well guarded, but in every age "wolves have entered, nob sparing the flock." The Saviour struck boldly at priestly cor- ruption. Men who made long prayers often devoured widows' houses. The wonder is not that there are bad men in the ministry, but that there are not more. It has rare attractions to mediocrity. It pays better for moderate talent than any other profession. Like every CLERICAL IBBECULARITIES. ' 353 other calling, some succeed — some fail ; some are very good men — some are very bad. Too Much Maeeied. — A young man was settled over a very poor parish. A wealthy gentleman gave him a home. The young man repaid the kindness by making love to an invalid daughter. The father made the discovery when it was too late to avert the evil, and the marriage took place. It was an unhappy union, followed by cruelty and neglect. The child- wife soon died and left the minister free. He obtained a city charge with the infatuation of marriage still upon him. He engaged himself to a mere child, bound her by a solemn oath to secrecy, and sent her to school to complete her education. He tired of his new toy and deserted her on the ground that she had broken her contract. He found a new church and a new victim, — this time a widow, who was too much for him, and who compelled him to marry her, though the marriage was secret. A watch was put upon him ; he was tracked to the widow's house, and showing a certificate of marriage alone saved him from a coat of tar and feathers. He deserted both the church and hfs wife, turned up on the Pacific coast, where he was found ped- dling milk on Sundays. Bad Rhetokic. — A well-known merchant was in a bad humor one Monday morning. A friend said to him : " Jerry, I am afraid the preaching yesterday did not do you much good.'' "It did not," was the an- swer. ' ' My pastor preached yesterday on the liquor traffic. He said a man who would sell liquor at this age would not quail if the gates of hell were shook in his face. There is my ledger ; look at it ; there is an account against that man for seventy dollars. Thirty dollars are for liquors that he has not paid for." 254 SUC0ES8FUL FOLKS. FoBOED INTO THE MINISTRY. — A yoQngman wanted to practice law. His father was a miaiister, and his mother had consecrated him when a babe to the sacred oflBce. Every step in his education looked towards the pulpit. He had no heart for the work and really hated the pastoral office. A mother' s tears pre"^ailed and he graduated with high honors. He was brilliant, and secured a prominent pulpit, but he had no heart for his work. He was fond of company, would wear white gloves and read novels. His pastorate was a short one, and he was dismissed by a council without honor. A first-class lawyer was lost that a very poor minister might be created. Speculation in Oil. — A young man was settled over a city church. He made a venture in oil, and won. He knew that he was cut out for a trader. His head was fairly turned. He gave up the pulpit and went on the street. He lost his money quicker than he made it and resorted to practices not credible to raise the wind. No Tkial. — It is no uncommon thing for base men and base women to attempt to blackmail preachers. A woman preferred a charge against a well-known rector. The rector walked into the office of the district- attorney and took out a warrant for the arrest of the woman for blackmailing. The newspapers gave him credit for great pluck. The woman answered the sum- mons, gave bail, and told the authorities that she could be found when wanted. She was offered a discharge: if she would retract. She refused the offer, and de- manded a speedy trial. The indictment lies in a pigeon- hole in the office, and the case probably will never be called. CLERICAL IBBEQULARITIE8. 25& Money Boerowers. — Some men stain their honor by being professional money-borrowers. There was a case in New York where this passion amounted to an infatuation. A man stood very high in letters and in theology, but he had no charge, and went from place to place on Sunday, usually occupying a seat in the pulpit. He overlooked the congregation, and selected his men. He spent the week going from store to store, borrowing small sums, from five dollars to twenty-five. He called one Sunday night on the pastor. A friend had been arrested the night before. His wife was nearly crazed, for she could get no bail on Sunday. The bail was raised within twenty dollars. Would the pastor loan that till Monday, or get some of his society to do it? Six dollars was all that could be raised. The minister took that and departed. The whole story was a fraud. There was no man in jail, no woman crazed, no party arrested ; the whole was an attempt to- get twenty dollars. Concealment. — Education helps concealment. The eye is educated not to quail, the cheek not to blanch, the nerves not to tremble, and the brow to be un- clouded. The villain walks as a saint, and does holj things. There was a college church in the north-west. The pastor was very gifted, an eminent revivalist, and claimed a high order of holiness. Notwithstanding, his repute was not good. Rumors followed him from year to year. His name was connected with a deacon's wife. She was a demure, strait-laced, devout woman, apparently without temptation and without charity. She was present at every sermon, and was never absent from the communion. In time distinct charges were preferred against the parties. They solemnly swore on the Evangelists they were innocent. Proofs accumu- 256 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. iated, and at length were overwhelming. The scandal of a public trial was avoided by confession. Almost Cleaeed. — A well-known Massachusetts minister was settled with high honor. Rumors com- passed him about. A council was called to investigate his case. The council voted him not guilty, and ordered the result to be made up. A member refused to sign the result because one particular scandal had not been investigated. The brother was no doubt innocent, but he could not say that all cases were investigated when they had not been. It was voted to adjourn the coun- cil and examine this case. Before the council could adjourn the accused came in with a confession, full and humiliating, which came on the brothers like a clap of thunder from a clear sky. Swearing to One's Hurt. — Charges were preferred against the pastor by his deacons. Prominent minis- ters were appointed to look into the matter. This tribunal dismissed the charges as unworthy of consid- «ration. In a new field of labor a worse scandal broke but. A young woman who had lived in Ms family charged the minister with being the father of her child. He admitted that he had supported the mother and child, and had paid an annual sum for hush-money. He sent a friend, had advised him to do it, binding him by an oath to secrecy. The name of this friend was demanded. The minister refused to give it up, referring to his oath. Nobody believed the story, for it was said that the man did not live benevolent enough to give the minister five hundred dollars, and then re- fuse to own it. All efforts to regain public confidence failed, and the poor man passed under a cloud and went out of sight. CLERICAL IRREGULARITIES. 357 A Stock Beoker. — A man is preaching to a little ■congregation in New Jersey that once held a large charge in New York. He had large wealth of his own. He saw no reason why he should not invest in stocks and make his fortune larger. He got caught in the undertow. To save himself he resorted to a little sharp practice. He lost his money, lost his pulpit, lost his character, and lived abroad for some years. Too MANY Ikons in the Fire. — A preacher who was very well known in New York, was a distinguished moral reformer. He was versatile in talent and turned his hand to a great many things. He was editor of .a prominent religious paper, a great revivalist, and pastor of a large church. Rumor accused him of visit- ing the third row of the Park Theater. A committee was appointed to look into the rumor. In the saloon of the theater the man was found drinking with some women. He had been leading this line of lif0 for years. His dismissal from the church and deposition from the ministry rapidly followed. A Standaed-Bearer Falls. — A minister had a national repute. He was wise in council, and eloquent in speech. He became secretary of one of the great in- stitutions of the church. Whilst he was pleading the cause with great eloquence and success, rumors at- tacked his character. Detectives were put on his track, who followed him to haunts of infamy. His fall was terrible as it was sudden. Robes taken off. A young man was converted at sea. He wished to study for the ministry, and graduated with honor. He was settled in Washington, and occupied several pulpits of importance. His set- tlements were short ones, and everywhere something 17 258 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. seemed to be the matter. His case culminated in a charge near Boston. He invited a young woman inta the study in the church to talk over the subject of religion. He locked his study door and offered her personal indignities. She was a girl of spirit, and de- manded that the door should be unlocked, or she should break through the windows. The key was- turned back, and the girl fled like a frightened fawn. The pastor anticipated the popular verdict, fled be- tween two days, and died in disgrace. Serving Tables. — Men who serve tables cannot administer the word of the Lord. Men have attempted to join horse-jockeying, stock- jobbing, and speculating, with preaching. The resiilt has never anywhere been. a success. One of the most eloquent rectors in New York undertook to build an educational .institution. He bought right and left, made contracts he could not carry out, incurred debts he could not pay, and formed obligations only to break them. He lost his fine city church, and was crippled by his ventures all his life. Indiscretions. — These hurt like crime. " There are evils wrought by want of thought, As well as want of heart." Age has its perils as well as youth. It is no uncom- mon thing for the New York police to lift out of the gutter a minister and take him to his home. Company works mischief to a young man. Parochial flattery and indiscriminate praise, turn the head of many a popular pastor. Too much tea-drinking and too little study has ruined many a bright man. Bad Rumors. — A well-known evangelist was very popular. His style was liberal, his delivery effec- CROATS AS A LAWYEB. 25Sf tive, and Ms maaner courtly. A cliurch was gathered for him, and he was petted and cossited like a child. As his house of worship was being completed, rumors, about his social habits were abroad, and the press was outspoken and loud. Indiscretions were admitted, and the charges were never pressed. A libel was threatened, but nothing canie of it. A Maw of Versatility. — A gentleman who was for some time pastor of a city church has been a play- actor, a stock-jobber, a dealer in horses, a pastor, and everywhere a speculator. He is known on the street. as Doctor, and keeps Rev. before his name for specu- lative purposes. He has no church, and seldom enters- the pulpit of his. denomination. In his early career he speculated in churches, involving both himself and his friends. He visited England and contracted to bring. Spurgeon on a starring expedition to this country. Spurgeon was to preach a certain number of nights — admission to be obtained by tickets, and the proceeds were to be divided; one half to be left to build a memorial church for the speculator, and the other halt Spurgeon was to take vrith him to London. XCVIII. CHOATE AS A LAWYER. UFUS CHOATE was an eminent lawyer and' an eloquent speaker — the most so in the na- tion. He was an extraordinary looking man. His face was as wrinkled as an old woman of eighty. His hair was black and kinky. He 260 ' SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. was tall, spare, nervous and ethereal. He was very de- ferential to the court, but could strike when he would a heavy blow. Judge Shaw was a man of eminent learn- ing, but he was very surly to the bar. He snubbed Choate one day, and the great advocate said, "Judge Shaw is no lawyer, but he is a perfect gentleman." His retorts were terrible, and nobody got the better of him in a repartee. To his doctor, who ordered him to cease work if he would save his constitution, the great advocate replied : " My constitution was gone long ago. I am now living on the by-laws." He was an un- daunted student through all his college career, and found his recreation in hard work. He read every- thing he could lay his hands on, and his prodigious memory treasured up everything he read. He arose early and worked until midnight. He never tired himself, and had no idea that anyone else could be fatigued. He went to Dartmouth to spend August. He took a cart-load of law books with him, enough to hold a term of a court. On the third morning he came down to the breakfast dressed for a journey. " I shall die here," he said. "I must go home and go to work." His law office was always crowded when he was in town. Whoever got his attention was sure to keep it till the matter was disposed of. He was especially con- siderate to the poor ; and he listened as attentively to a case involving ten dollars as he would to one involv- ing ten thousand. He was constitutionally a cold man, and a fire blazed on his hearth in July. He came into court with three or four coats on, and took them off one after the other as he warmed up. His favorite suit before a jury was a black frock coat and gray pants. He kept no appointments except legal ones. He had a habit of going to bed after supper, wholly undress- ing himself, and getting up about nine and working till CH04TE AS A LAWTEB. 261 midnight. If lie had a literary or political appoint- ment, he had to be watched. Committees often went to his house, dragged him out of bed, and carried him to Faneuil Hall, where he had a speech to make. He never put a case before the jury till he had manipu- lated that panel. He studied the jury, knew their trade, their politics, and their religion. His wild rhap- sodies, his rantings and his sentimentalisms were stock in trade. His extravagant and incoherent talks about Marie Antoinette and General Jackson, the French Revolution and Foreign Missions, were designed to manipulate the jury. His voice was melody itself, sonorous, bell-like and bewitching. . His stage whisper made the flesh creep and his roar jarred the chande- delier. His affluence of learning, his frenzy, his humor, his repartee were irresistible. He could mesmerize the jury at will, and demolish a swift, unwillingly, or perjured witness with terrible power. On a cross-ex- amination he had no peer. He knew when to stop, how much to make a witness say, and like a skillful artist, he would cut out the exact block he wanted to fill the hole in the wall. He kept sight of the jury through all the trial. At recess he would say to his as- sistant, " Drift out, drift out, and hear what they say." He knew every book in the Boston libraries, the shelf on which it stood, the alcove in which it was placed. He wrote everything, and had the faculty to com- mit by the act of writing. AU his motions and his address to the court were written, but lay untouched on his table. He wrote standing at a tall desk, wrote on a half a sheet of letter-paper, and piled one upon another. He wrote an extraordinary hand which no one could read without learning. He dashed ink over his manuscript, had a way of flourishing which covered his writing up, and then he would cover the whole with a profusion of black sand. .When he wrote a 363 SUG0E8SFUL FOLKS. lecture or oration, he left the manuscript wet on his desk, and delivered the lecture without a scrap of writing before him. I saw him on the Saturday pre- vious to the delivery of his ealogy on Webster. He told me that not a word of the address was written. He spent Monday in traveling to Dartmouth, and 4;he eulogy was given on Tuesday. It was fully writ- ten out, but delivered without notes. While taking testimony at a trial, he kept two ■sets of notes. One held the evidence, and the other was ^ digest and an argument. As soon as the testimony •closed, he was ready to argue the case. He knew everything about law, both American and European ; ■the law of entail and the black-letter law of England were as familiar to him as the criminal code. He sometimes found his match in a witness. One ■desperado told him that bad men never committed a crime without first asking after Choate's health. There was a conspiracy to commit murder ; one man turned State' s evidence, and Choate tried to break him ■down. ' ' In the conspiracy you took all the conse- quences into account?-' "We did." "Were you not afraid of being hung f "No sir. If worse came to worse we had money enough to employ Choate, and he ■would see us through." Choate laid up no money till he was past forty years of age. He earned a great deal, but collected little. He was always in want of money, and always under the harrow. He kept no books, and if a man -came to pay a bill he charged him just what he hap- pened to need at the moment. If a man expected to pay a thousand dollars Choate would let him oflp for three hundred. He had two or three partners, but they never aided Mr. Choate in his money matters. His loose financial habits cost him ten thousand doUai'S a year. Things changed when young Joe Bell became CHOATE A8 A LAWYER. 263 a partner. He was sharp enough for anybody. The retainers were high, his charges heavy, and he sent in his bill as soon as the verdict was recorded. A rail- road company sent a retainer of a hundred dollars in an important case. Bell sent it back and demanded a thousand. When the defendants saw Choate's name "in the case they comproipised. One day Mr. Choate said, "What retainer did the road pay us?" "One thousand dollars." "We will let them off at that. We did nothing." "You are too late," said Bell. " Your name settled the suit. I charged the company five thousand dollars, and the money is in bank." Choate was very considerate to young lawyers. He was very proud of his profession, and delighted to' aid young men. He knew how to put a young advo- cate at his ease. He never assumed anything. ' ' Yes, ' ' he would say, "you have stated that very well, but how would it do to piit it so f " Suppose we turn to one of the decisions and see how that reads?" " That is a good point, but I am afraid the court will go against us." " That is an excellent decision, but it strikes me that that has been overruled." He came early to court, but never so early but that he had done a day' s work. For years he was on one side or the other of all the great cases argued at the Massachusetts bar. He de- I clined the office of the U. S. attorney-general, and also a seat on the U. S. bench, for the salary was not ade- quate to his support. 264 SUCCESSFUL POLKS. XCIX. FLIES IN THE OINTMENT. LITTLE folly in a wise man, the Bible says^ ruins Mm. A whole life is inadequate to atone for a single false step. One of the ablest financiers in the State of Massachu- setts was president of a bank near Boston. His salary was large, and his social position high. He wanted to use some money, with which to purchase land. He took it from the bank, leaving his own check as a memorandum. Had he called the directors together, he could have had all the money he wanted. He had an enemy in the board. This man discovered the check, and made a noise about it. The act was pro- nounced a breach of trust. In an hour the president lost his position, his money, his honor. Nobody stood higher than Jackson", a Boston law- yer. He had earned through a long life the repute of integrity and prudence. He held large trust estates, and men and women begged him to invest their funds. His legitimate income was not less than twenty-five thousand a year. To make it a hundred thousand, he became the great forger of the age. The indictments against him would keep him in State prison all his Ufe. Social DRINKING CUSTOMS ruin business young men. These habits seldom go alone. Men who live on their nerves should have cool heads. The champion billiard- players drink nothing. Dan Mace drinks nothing but lemonade on the road. Men who keep their own cop- pers hot would not trust their costly teams to Mace, if FLIEa IN THE OmTMENT. 265. his own nerves were not steady. The young business- men of New York are prematurely old. They are older at thirty than their fathers are at sixty. They are bald and gray, walk with a cane, with their under- pinnings knocked out. Many drink a bottle of wine- before they are fixed for dinner, and cover their meat, with sauces and spices before they can get an appe- tite. These are known as fast young men who don' t live out half their days. Fakeagut, when his son was ten years old, put a. thousand dollars in the bank for him, on condition that he would neither drink nor smoke till he was twenty- one years old. Foote was the best disciplinarian in the Navy. No swearing was allowed, or harsh treatment. When he took command of a ship, he approached the crew with a pledge in one hand and a cat in the other, saying : " Boys, take your choice. You must take one^ or the other." Ball, the sculptor, was the Michael Angelo of America. His drinking habits ruined him. He worked just enough to keep him in liquor. When he was clear down he made poker pictures. With a hot iron on the head of a barrel he would burn out an exquisite work of art. This he would sell for fifty cents, and. invest it in rum. An eminent organist, who plays in one of the churches, has often had to be held on hia seat, being too drunk to sit upright. ■ CoMMEECiAL disasters affect men differently. Som& are ruined beyond the hope of recovery, take to the- bottle or a rope ; others remove the debris, and lay the foundations only the firmer. One of the wealthiest men in Salem was mayor of the city. He was born to- wealth, and his manhood was passed in luxury. He- failed disastrously. He went to Canada, and camped -366 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. out as a lumberman. He resolved to retrieve his for- tune. In the midst of his labors, he perished on board of a burning steamer. A Quaker has for years made a specialty of selling oorn-fed pig pork. For fifty years he has driven a trade in an unfashionable part of the city, in a room nearly underground. Here, on tables white as snow, are spread out chops, loins and sausages. The coaches of the aristocracy drive up and down the narrow street, only too thankful to be served. The Quaker waits on his customers in person, and his style of business, un- ohanged^for half a century, has made him rich. Speculation is an infatuation. A man will make a fortune on the street, and stay there till he flings it all away. A well-known operator made a fortune and retired. He took his family to Europe, and resided there a year. He came back, and visited his old haunts. His friends gave a dinner to the man who had strength of mind enough to retire with six millions. Some of the shrewdest speculators on the street were in a great venture, and offered to let their friend in at the bottom prices. He went in to add a little to his six millions. The treacherous seas swallowed up his ■whole fortune, and the man has to be watched to keep him from suicide. Sunday woek is usually bad work. The statistics of New York show that merchants who keep their counting-houses open on Sunday fail. A heated brain nke a hot box is not the best thing for work. Paraly- sis and softening of the brain are the great diseases of business men. The regular periodical repose of the Sabbath is absolutely necessary for health and cool judgment. Castlereagh had no Sabbath and worked himself into frenzy and suicide. Sir Matthew Hale FLIES IN THE OINTMENT. 267 during forty years of his circuit life never lost a day by sickness, and was not out of his pew on Sundays lor half a century. He attributed his good health to an 'early resolution, never to do secular business on the Lord' s Day. Men make or mar their fortune by insig- nificant trifles. Tidiness has a commercial value. Talent comes out in the tying a bundle or displaying goods in a window. The material of a coat may be ■coarse, but the fit be complete. A sloven or a slattern is a nuisance anywhere. A doctor cannot afford to be a sloven, and a minister ought not to dress like a butcher. One of the dirtiest men in Boston was old Ben Wheeler. He was a man of large wealth, but his habits and methods were too disgusting for mention. He lived eleven months on beans, and when he was seventy years of age he boasted of it. He owned the filthiest rookeries in the city. In rooms not fit for a dog kennel he often sat down and took his rent out in a dinner. A man over fifty years of age works in a piano fac- TOET. For twenty-five years his sole business has been to cut red cloth into bits and squares and glue them on to a hammer. Not one in a hundred can do this work artistically. The excellence of a piano de- pends materially on the manner in which this bit of cloth is pasted on. The artist has a life position and a handsome salary. It is not only not best to go to a beothek's house in a day of calamity, but it is not always safe to let your troubles be known. A panic swept over the city, and a well-known merchant was at his wits' end for money. He kept his own council and walked leisurely into the bank. After talking about indifferent things the mer- chant said : "I know it is difllcultior banks to get re- 268 . SUGCESaFUL FOLKS. liable paper in these panicky times, I thought I would show you some notes that I have. I think the paper is good, you may put the money to my credit or not, just as you please." With this cool method of asking a loan as a favor to the bank, he walked away. He got the money, nevertheless, which would not have happened if the bank had known his condition. Men fail often because they have no margin. Men in trade and in stocks live sharp up to their income. Men hire palaces for stores, lit up offices like a church chancel, and spend their profits before they are earned. When I was in Paris an American house tried to in- duce a large company to put their funds in his bank. He had a gorgeous establishment, with carpets, mirrors, paintings and elegance, and all his iitting-up was done with other peoples' money. The ruin was only a question of time. Beside this gorgeous establishment was an old-time banking-house, not an inch of room for show or loafing ; no wining or dining customers ; in dingy rooms with the selvedge of civility, positive safety was guaranteed and the letters of credit of the house were good around the globe. On the Street men lose their personality. The street decides what the merchant shall pay for gold ^ whether greenbacks shall be flush or locked up ;. whether the lumbermen on the Penobscot, the rafts- men on the Mississippi, the fishermen on the Grand Banks, the farmers on the prairies, shall have money. The street is a dangerous place for men, not only because the chances are ten to one they will lose money, but because of the habits formed. Out of the young brokers who yell themselves hoarse every day, not ten will be left in ten years. Tliey must do a» others do, whether they like it or not ; they must eat FLIES m THE OINTMENT. 269 as others eat, drink as others drink, drive fast horses, and go to the bar, spend their nights in degrading company, sleep till noon, and pay the heavy bills that the fashionable restaurants charge. Nobody expected to see Daniel Drew bankrupted. He opened a drover's exchange at Ball's Head when lie was very young. He began his steamboat life with the "Emerald." Vanderbilt saw in him a decided «nemy, and tried to run him off the river. He Joined Newton in his great steamboat enterprise and made money. His great power lay in combination. He was very sly, worked through agents, and took the stock market by surprise. Concealment and cunning were his jveapons. While he followed Vanderbilt' s lead he made money. When he ought to have retired with six millions he plunged into the Erie troubles and periled everything he had. His friends did everything in their power to get him out of the street, but the infatuation of stock speculation is as strong as the infatuation of gambling. He is simply a beacon to young business men. An old man resided in Leicester square, London, who was accounted a lunatic. He was a harmless gentle- man, and on sunny days took a seat in front of his house amusing himself and entertaining his neighbors by blowing soap-bubbles from a clay pipe. This poor lunatic was Sir Isaac Newton, studying the refraction of light as the bubbles floated in the sunshine. Some men can turn the follies and frivolities of life into sources of wisdom. Copernicus occasionally vis- ited the Sunday wine-gardens of his city. He was greatly attracted by a German waltz in which the parties whirled themselves around rapidly, yet made the circuit of the room. That waltz suggested to 370 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. Copernicus the two-fold motion of the earth. I heard Admiral Farragut say that the idea of passing the- forts at Mobile was suggested to him by a book he read when he was ten years of age. It was the resolute landing of the troops at Quebec under the direction of an old Scotch sailingmaster, who landed the troops in defiance of the judgment and order of Wolfe. As the troops were landed Wolfe insisted on taking com- mand or he would be a ruined man. He took com- mand, and the story of his tragic end is well known. BuNYATsr was a genius. He beguiled his prison life by music on a flute. All such recreation was prohib- ited, and the jailer searched his cell over and over again. He improvised the flute out of the leg of .his prison stool, and when the rattling of the chains and the grating of the bolts announced the coming of the keeper, the dreamer hastily replaced the leg and the jailer was none the wiser. C. TRADE OF AUTHORSHIP. UTHORSHIP goes by favor. The writer of the feeblest novel of the century received twenty-five thousand dollars for the use of of his name. Ten thousand dollars were paid for a series of articles that could scarcely have gotten circulation in an ordinary country paper. Th& saddest chapter in literature is that entitled the " In- TRADE OF AUTEOBSHIP. 371 firmity of Geuius." The "Vicar of Wakefield" was sold for a song. Five pounds were paid for " Paradise Lost." Jolinson worked like a scrub, was constantly in want, and would have died in poverty but for a small pension. Cowper made the fortune of his pub- lishers, but lived in constant fear of the King's Bench. The love of literature made Sterne, Swift, and Church- hill paupers. Timbs, the local historian of London, printed over one hundred and forty volumes. He worked like a galley slave, and never earned his bread. Carlisle denounced literature as a humiliating calling, Southey pronounced the man foolish who followed writing for a living. Lamb was reduced by book-mak- ing to an intolerable serfdom. Irving pronounced the years in which he wrote for his bread the most dis- tasteful of his life. Scott toiled harder than any ditcher in Scotland, and literally worked himself to death. Burns called the bread he earned with his pen the bread of sorrow. At least a thousand men and women are trying to get their bread with their pen in New . York, and don' t earn dog' s wages. Dr. Spragae spent his manhood on his "Annals of the Pulpit." At the close of his Herculean task he told me he had not re- ceived money enough from his books to pay his post- age. Literature and liberality do not go together. A well-known actress, in the height of her fame, when she was a reader, and was coining money, 'ordered a basket of wine from Boston. She refused to pay twenty-five cents expressage, and the driver refused ta deliver the basket. She drove after him to the depot, paid the expressage under protest, and opened a cor- respondence with the president of the company,, threatening him with all kinds of penalties if he did not return the twenty-five cents. 373 8UG0E8SFUL POLKS. CI. CLAFLm AS A MERCHANT. UCH of Claflin's success is due to his good common sense. He possesses marked busi- ness ability, and knows how to fill the ave- nues of trade. Those who look for him in business hours seldom find him in the office. His favorite place is on a dry -goods box, nursing his leg and talking to a customer under his breath. He was never a brilliant man but won by his steadfastness and •endurance. He began business in Worcester. He traded in a small way, bought his goods in small par- cels, and delivered them with his own hands. He courted popularity as a trader ; kept a sort of people's store, buying close and selling at a small advance. He brought little capital with him when he came to New York. He opened trade in a loft in the fourth story of • a Maiden lane store. He bought his first bill of goods of Winston, now President of the Mutual Life. The bill was seven hundred dollars, and Claflin always maintained a good mercantile credit. He was an ex- cellent salesman, and worked his way up alone. He always did a large business in proportion to his capital. Claflin prided himself more on the quantity of goods sold than he did on the profit he made. Claflin could outsell Stewart any year. But Stewart would make double the money. Claflin had none of Stewart's ava- rice and none of Stewart's tyranny. He took young men into his employ, not to see what he could get out of them, but to see what he could make of them. Young merchants who had a fair repute were always sure of credit and a helping hand from Claflin. MOSES TAYLOB--A STEADY PULL. 273 He early learned the art of securing influence in the great centers. Eepresentative men from a distance, if they had talent, were sure of employment from Claflin. If they failed at home, and failed without dishonor, they were just as useful to the great merchant. These men had influence and custom, and they could trans- fer it to New York. Claflin scoured the country to se- cure men of talent and ability. If men came to trade from Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, or St. Louis, they "would be introduced to a head of a department from their own section. The customers would at once feel at home, and would find topics of conversation inter- esting to both parties. Claflin catered to the public. And as he did in Worcester, so he did in New York. He made himself popular with the masses. He was celebrated for a cheap line of goods. This demanded less capital and gave him a huge stock. His profits were very small. Prints that he bought for nine cents, he would sell for nine and a half. Men went to Claflin' s for cheap pat- • terns, and to Sewart' s for richer and more costly fabrics. Claflin sold the most goods, but Stewart made the most money. CII. MOSES TAYLOR— A STEADY PULL. R. TAYLOR is a very rich man, and has made his wealth in trade. He would be a guide to no one, for not one in a thousand could adopt the line of tra^e that gave him a fortune. If money is everything, and is to be had 18 274 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. at any price, the business life of Mr. Taylor will sliow a young man how to get it. Mr. Taylor's father was an alderman of the city, and through him Moses ob- tained the favor of John Jacob Astor. The young man began to trade for himself in a very small way. He can to-day open a small memorandum book, and show the profit and loss of every sale. He made money in the West India trade. He early entered upon the career of a banker, discounting commercial paper at short time at a large profit. Independ- ent of his bank and his railroads, he keeps a set of books which he writes up every night. It is said should his bank burn up he could replace all his ac- counts in an hour. He has lived till sixty to make money. Horses, yachting, fast living and heated viands- have no charms for him. He prefers his well-venti- lated chamber on Fifth avenue to the sweltering rooms- of a summer watering-place. He rises early, takes a. bath, eats a simple breakfast, and is down to the bank before his clerks. After banking hours he takes a frugal dinner, takes a bath, then a nap, and sits down to work, which closes at ten o'clock. Mr. Taylor is a shrewd, far-seeing and successful banker. A railroad in the coal regions was earning nothing. There were two or three heavy grades on the road, and the trains were light. To the surprise of everyone, Mr. Taylor bought the road. He called to his assistance one of the ablest engineers of the day. ' ' What will it cost to put a stationary engine at those points of the road ?" An estimate was made. "lean, double the capacity of my freight, can I not ?" " You can." His dividends the first year were a million.. Moses Taylor was a born trader, sharp and keen, with- out sympathy or sentimentalism. He pays a hundred cents on the dollar and expects the same in return. He- touches nothing out of which he does not make money^ BOUTWELL, OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE. 375 All who confide business to Mm know that it will be well and safely done. Whoever employs him has to pay him. cm. BOUTWELL, OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE. lEORGE S. BOUTWELL has great versatility of talent. He is not now an old man, yet he has been a trader, a lawyer, governor, mem- ber of Congress, cabinet officer, and senator. He was born in Brookline, near Boston, and spent his boyhood on a farm. Farm life was not congenial to him, and he entered a store at Luninburg, on a salary of a hundred and twenty dollars a year. He removed soon after to Groton, following the same line of life. His work was hard, his pay poor, and one- half of his salary was taken in store pay. He had a great desire for an education, and was allowed to attend school. In a room over the store, he found a small, but select library. He devoted all his leisure and much of his nights to devouring this mine of wealth. At sixteen he was competent to teach a public school. Mr. Boutwell obtained a situation in a law office. Besides being in full practice, the attorney with whom he entered his name was master in chancery. Boutwell became clerk, and for five years transacted the entire business of the insolvency court. He had great oppor- tunities, which he thoroughly improved. Being a young and prosperous lawyer, the friends of reform in 276 SUCCESSFUL FOLKS. Concord, •without regard for party, "nominated Mm for •theilLegislatiiiTe. He was defeated — nominated again, and again defeated. Third time he was eleOted. He was held so high for industry and ability, that the Democratic party nominated him for governor. He was regularly nominated for ten years, and every year defeated. A coalition was formed between the Demo- cratic and the Abolition parties, and the combined forces put Mr. Boutwell in the chair of state. During all the years of his public life he has resided in Grroton maintaining the simplicity of rural life — a practical farmer and a friend of the people. CIV. GENERAL GRANT AT SCHOOL. RANT'S boyhood had very small promise. As far as is known he was distinguished for the same traits which have marked his pub- lic career. His schooling was not affluent. In the town of Amelia, in Clermont county, Ohio, there is an old weather-beaten tumble-down hovel. In this building U. S. Grant received his early education. In study Grant -was nowhere. The bright boy of the fschool was Harry Wally. He is now running a forty- acre farm in Warren connty. Grant would not get his lessons, but he devoiired the biography of Napoleon and other great men. In his attendance he was punc- tual, and was never late at school. He had a native courtesy, but seldom spoke to any one. He never MULLEB, OP BRISTOL. 877 joined in plays except in a snow-ball fight. . He usually sat on a fence or on a stump and watched the