Advice to young men and boys: A series of addresses delivered by B. B. Comegys to the pupils of Girard CollegeComegys, B. B. (Benjamin Bartis)
Religion
Advice to young men and boys: A series of addresses delivered by B. B. Comegys to the pupils of Girard College
Comegys, B. B. (Benjamin Bartis)
Conduct of life; Girard College
Let me say, however, that true success in business is not to be
measured by the amount of money one accumulates. A man may be rich
in the riches acquired by his own activity and shrewdness who is in
no high sense a successful business man. These things are necessary:
He should be a just man, an upright, honorable man, a man of breadth
and solidity of character, who gathers about him some of the ablest
and best of his fellow-citizens in labors for the good of others and
the welfare of society. In such sense was Mr. Claghorn a successful
business man.
His early love of art in its various forms, the substantial aid and
encouragement he gave to young students in their beginnings, his deep
sympathy with persons who in literature and art were striving for a
living, his generous hospitality to artists, and his public spirit――all
these had their influence in the growth and development of his
character, and made his name to be loved and honored by many who shared
in his generous sympathies.
Mr. Claghorn’s love of country, which we call patriotism, was signally
disclosed at the outbreak of the war in 1861. When we remember his
long and busy life as a merchant――broken by few or no vacations such
as most other men enjoyed――when we remember that his self-culture had
been of such a nature as to prepare him most admirably well for a
tour in foreign countries, especially such countries as had produced
the ablest, the most distinguished artists――we can have some idea of
what it cost him to forego the much needed rest――to deny himself the
well-earned pleasure of a visit to the picture galleries of Europe,
where are gathered the treasures of the highest art in all the world.
Many men in like circumstances would have felt that one man, whose age
and sedentary habits unfitted him for active service in the field,
would hardly be missed from among the loyal citizens of the North――but
he did not think so; and therefore he put aside all his personal plans,
and in the city where he was born he remained and devoted himself
as one of her true, loyal citizens in raising money and men for the
defence of the government. There could be no truer heroism than this,
and right bravely and successfully he carried his purpose to the end.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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