curious astronomer is not disappointed. The more nearly man conforms to such systematic arrangements in his earthly affairs, the more prosperous he will be.

A well regulated mercantile house observes order in every department. The most flourishing establishments are the most particular in this respect. The following description of a model trading-house in the city of Philadelphia, may serve for an example:

"The amount of sales made at this store is about £60,000 annually. Each department in the store is alphabetically designated; the shelves and rows of goods in each department are numbered, and upon the tag attached to the goods is marked the letter of the department, the number of the shelf and row on the shelf to which such piece of goods belongs.

The

counters are designated by the colour, as the blue counter, the green, the brown, &c. The yard-sticks and counter-brush belonging to it are painted to correspond with the colour of the counter; so, by a very simple arrangement, each of these necessaries is kept where it belongs, and should any be missing, the faulty clerks are easily known.

"All wrapping-paper coming into the store is immediately taken to a counter in the basement, where a lad attends with a pair of shears, whose duty it is to cut the paper into pieces to correspond with the size of the parcels sold at the different departments, to which he sees that it is transferred. All pieces too small for this, even to the smallest scraps, are by him put into a sack, and what is usually thrown away by other merchants, yields to this systematic man several pounds per year. In one part of the establishment is a tool-closet, with a

work-bench attached; the closet occupies but little space, yet in it we notice almost every tool, and this is arranged with the hand-saw to form the centre, and the smaller tools radiating from it in uniform order ; behind each article is painted, with black paint, the shape of the tool belonging in that place.

"It is consequently impossible that anything should be out of place, except through design; and if any tool is missing, the wall will shew the shadow without the substance. Such is the salutary influence exerted by order, that those who enter this employ habitually careless, are reformed entirely; and system, which before was irksome, has become to them a second nature. The proprietor's desk stands at the further end of the store, raised on a platform facing the front, from which he can see all the operations in each section of the retail department. From this desk run tubes, connecting with each department of the store, from the garret to the cellar, so that if a person in any department, either porter, retail or wholesale clerk, wishes to communicate with the employer, he can do so without leaving his station. Clerks are kept in each department to take the bill of parcels, together with the money paid, and return the bill receipted, and change, if any, to the customer; so that the salesman is never obliged to leave the counter.

"By the alphabetic arrangement of departments, numbering of shelves, and form of the tools, any clerk, no matter if he has not been in the store more than an hour, can arrange every article in its proper place. He has brought up some of the best merchants at present engaged in trade, who do honour to their tutor."

Such order as this can and ought to characterise every department of human affairs. All domestic and secular business may be arranged after this model. The farmer may adopt it as well as the trader, the minister as well as the mechanic. There is beauty in order, and this is always captivating. When the affairs of a family or mercantile establishment move on like clock-work, we delight to observe them. The pleasure to those who have a hand therein is no less congenial.

The youth may say :-"I have no particular affairs to systematise. I have no business of my own, and therefore there is no need of my attending to this matter at present. It will be soon enough when I become a man." Not so. If Amos Lawrence had excused himself on this ground, in early life, and thereby failed to form the habit of order, his manhood might have been materially different. If he had not given attention to the matter in youth, he probably would have neglected it in age. He was so much impressed, as we have seen, with the importance of forming the habit in early life, that he made it one of his cardinal subjects of instruction to his children. He knew very well that every young person receives and expends money, makes engagements here and there, has duties of importance to discharge, and other things peculiar to his sphere and relations of life to adjust, and therefore he needs to be systematic. His apparently trifling affairs will have more influence upon his future character than many more important things in later life.

This is especially true when a youth or young man goes away from home to school, or to engage in a chosen pursuit, in city or country. Then he is more

dependant upon himself. He is not under the immediate care and supervision of his parents. He is obliged to plan and execute more for himself. He has more complete control of his purse and all that pertains to himself in his new home. In such circumstances he ought especially to observe system in his affairs. There excuse for him if he conducts them without

is no

method.

We earnestly entreat the reader to give attention to this subject. Wait not another day. Begin now even with your least important transactions, to reduce them to order, and you will have occasion hereafter to bless the day of your decision.

CHAPTER X

ONE PURPOSE

SUCCESSFUL men have been distinguished for making one pursuit the great object of life. This is sometimes called "singleness of aim." Few men are competent to distinguish themselves in more than one calling, for this demands all the energies they possess. Thousands have failed for no other reason than that they had "too many irons in the fire." Their attention was so divided that they could do nothing well; they ran from one thing to another, perfecting nothing. A large number of mankind belong to this class. We find them in every neigh

bourhood-men who have pursued several avocations at different periods of life, and are good in none. We have one in view now. He was once a farmer, then a boot-maker, and last of all he became a butcher. He is poor and always will be. He has not continued long enough in any business to become master of it. We

have our eye upon another, a man who attempted to be a politician while he was a manufacturer. He was a good business man so long as he devoted himself to it with all his heart, and he would have made a popular politician, if that had been the ruling purpose of his life: but he utterly failed in attempting to be both. He lost what little property he had, became a bankrupt, and has never regained his credit. Since that time he has been engaged in several kinds of business; and his calling now is one of which he would once have been ashamed.

We knew a young man go to the city and engage in an honourable avocation. Through a friend he obtained an eligible situation in a shop. In less than a year we inquired for him, and found him in a bank counting money. Subsequently he was a waiter in an eating saloon, from whence he removed to another establishment where he was an under cook. This business did not suit him, so he abandoned it; and the last we heard of him was that he was travelling with a panorama in New Hampshire. It will not be many years before we shall hear from him in the poor-house, unless he devotes himself to one pursuit.

It is not unusual for youth and young men to change their employment frequently. Starting in life without any definite object in view except "to get a living,"