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Letter from a Prosperous Tradesman.

17

TABLE OF THE MOON'S RISING AND SETTING.

Ar 4 days old it sets at, and shines till, about 10 at

night.

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7 at or near 1 in the morning.

11

12

15 at full it rises about 6 in the evening
16 at a quarter after 7

17 .....

half ......8

18......about......10
19......about......11

20......about......12.

This table is sufficiently accurate for the purpose it is wanted for-that of knowing when there will be moon-light evenings.

Clergyman's Almanack.

LETTER FROM A PROSPEROUS TRADESMAN.

To the Editor of the Cottager's Monthly Visitor.
MR. EDITOR,

I AM now a tradesman in a large way of business, and I was, once, in a very small way. But, perhaps, you may ask me how this concerns the readers of your book. Why, Sir, it concerns them so far as this, that I think some of them perhaps may, in one particular, imitate my example, and it may do them good, and cannot well do them any harm. What I mean, Sir, is this, that a tradesman who means to succeed in business, should lay aside that sort of little pride which makes him despise small jobs and small customers.-When I first began business, it was not to be expected that all the neighbouring gentry should leave their old trades

would perhaps give me a little job as I happened to live handily for them, and these jobs I always received thankfully and civilly, and took as much pains about them as if they had been ten times as great. I saw many of my neighbours acting quite contrary to this, and it has turned out that none of these have done well, they have never staid long in a house, not being able to make it answer, whereas I have now been forty years in the same spot, and have increased my shop from a very small one to a very large one; I employ a great many workmen, and have realized a good property. My neighbours, as I have said, acted quite differently from me. A shoemaker, when a pair of shoes was sent to him to be mended, would say to the servant who brought them," Let your master send his shoes to be mended where they are made, I want no cobbling jobs, not I."-My neighbour, a tailor, would say,-"Don't send your things to be patched here. Where they are made there let them be mended, none of your botching work for me." Ifa servant went for a little tea to the grocer's, he would say, "Where you buy your sugar, there you may buy your tea, I'm for all or none."- Now, Sir, if a person wants to drive away customers, this is exactly the way to do it.

When a tradesman begins a business in a genteel neighbourhood, he must naturally suppose that the greater part of the gentry have already their own hatters, and tailors, and shoemakers, and carpenters, and all sorts of tradesmen; and it is not to be expected that they should leave their old ones and begin with the first new man that sets up a shop near them; we should not like to be served so ourselves. But still they may find it convenient to send a trifling job now and then, to save them the trouble of sending to their own tradesman who may live at a distance. Now, if these jobs are thankfully received, they often lead to more; and

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sometimes to the whole custom of the family; and, if they do not, still they bring in something;-the profit, in proportion, is the same;-and besides, civility is due to every one, and adds as much to the pleasure of the giver, as of the receiver.

I have got the whole business, now, of many families, for whom I only mended and repaired for many years. And, for some families, I only mend and repair still; and I do it, and intend to do it, cheerfully. When I look at my books, and put all these little jobs together, I find they come, in all, to an amount well worth attending to; and, Í know very well that, if I had shewn any ill humour at receiving these trifles, I should have lost the whole of them, and many large and profitable orders besides. I hope this hint may be of use to some young tradesmen, and encourage a civility, which, at worst, can cost them nothing.

I am, Sir,

Your constant Reader,

D.

MAXIMS.

PRUDENCE Will direct us to be cautious what debts we contract; but, when they become due, justice requires that they be punctually paid; otherwise we keep possession, whilst another has the right.

A small customer attended to, and pleased, shews the way to a greater.

Put down, as soon as possible, every sum which you receive or pay; and trust not to your memory. Business neglected is business lost; and the tradesman that can satisfy himself to be absent from his employ, has no right to expect success in it.

Do not think your property your own, whilst any man can call on you for money which you cannot

man's debt. That is but an empty purse which is full of other people's money.

Begin your course in life with but little shew and expence. You may, at any time, increase both, but cannot easily diminish them.

Do not consider debt only as an inconvenience, you will find it a calamity. No man can help others, who wants help himself. We must have enough, before we can have to spare.

Nothing leads so soon to the ruin of the pocket, or of the principles, as a habit of going to public houses. A habit of drinking is a sure means of keeping a man poor.

Taken from Plain Maxims, on plain subjects, from plain writers, selected by W. Hickman, a Plain Man."

A LETTER FROM A FATHER TO HIS SON.

November 19, 1824.

MY DEAR Boy, As you pay such attention to what I write to you, I must go on with my little account of the History of England, though, now we come so near to our own times, and have therefore so much more parti. cular accounts of all that is going on, I hardly know what to fix upon for your amusement that will come into the short compass of a letter.

George II. the son of George I. came to the throne in the year 1727, and he took Sir Robert Walpole for his principal minister, who had indeed been a leading character in the two former reigns. But I must not pretend to enter into the histories, or disputes, of the ministers and politicians of that day.

It was not long after George the Second began his reign, that war was declared against the Spaniards, which was chiefly carried on in their settle

A Letter from a Father to his Son.

21

ments in America. Then there was war with France, about which I need not write the particulars. But I must tell you of the rebellion of the year forty-five, when Prince Charles, the son of the old Pretender, assisted by the King of France, landed in Scotland, and endeavoured to excite a rebellion against the government of King George, and to get his own family restored to the throne. And, at one time indeed, there seemed to be some chance of his success, and the country was in great alarm. As soon as it was known that he had landed, the King's troops were sent to oppose him: they met at Preston Pans, not far from Edinburgh; and the young Pretender, and his fierce highlanders, who had joined him, attacked the King's troops with such fury, that they soon put them to flight. The young adventurer was then treated like a prince at Edinburgh, where he staid for some time, and there, in idle shew, lost the advantage which he had gained by the battle of Preston Pans. However, he at length consulted with his officers, and it was agreed that they should march into England; and they did march forward, the Prince and his followers in highland dresses, till they actually got as far as Derby. This is now, not eighty years ago; and, when I was young, I remember to have conversed with several people, who remembered the rebels coming to Derby quite well, and the fright that many people were in, to think that they had got within little more than a hundred miles of London.

The execution of the great Scotch lords, who joined in the rebellion, made a great sensation at the time, for the young Pretender failed after all, and his troops were obliged to march back again to Scotland. In truth, the officers in his army did nothing but quarrel amongst themselves, and the Prince could not keep them together; and he was disappointed in the hopes of having others to join him,

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