"Up! it is a glorious era! Never yet has dawned its peer; Up, and work! and then a nobler In the future shall appear. 'Onward!' is the present's motto, To a larger, higher life; 'Onward!' though the march be weary, Though unceasing be the strife. "Pitch not here thy tent, for higher Doth the bright ideal shine, And the journey is not ended Till thou reach that height divine. Upward! and above earth's vapors, Glimpses shall to thee be given, And the fresh and odorous breezes, Of the very hills, of heaven." [Footnote 1: Dr. Chalmers.] Among the fixed principles which you should establish for your government, by no means overlook _Honesty_ and _Integrity_. The poet never uttered a truer word than that "An honest man's the noblest work of God." Honesty is approved and admired by God and man--by all in heaven, and by all on earth. Even the corrupt swindler, in his heart, respects an honest man, and stands abashed in his presence. In all your actions, in all your dealings, let strict and rigid honesty guide you. Never be tempted to swerve from its dictates, even in the most trivial degree. There will be strong allurements to entice you from this path. The appetite for gain--the voice of avarice--will often whisper that honesty may be violated to advantage. There will be times when it will seem that its dictates may be placed aside--that a little dishonesty will be greatly to your benefit. Believe not this syren song. This is the time you are in the most danger of being deceived to your serious injury. Although there may be occasions when you will seem actually to lose by adhering to honesty, yet you should not shrink a hair's breadth. Whatever you may lose, in a pecuniary point of view, at any time, by a strict submission to honesty, you will make up an hundred-fold in the long-run, by establishing and preserving a reputation for integrity. Looking at it in simply a pecuniary point of view, community will give their countenance, their patronage, and business, much quicker to a man who has established a reputation for honesty, than to one who is known, or suspected of being fraudulent in his dealings. Every consideration which can bear upon the young, religious, moral and pecuniary, unite to urge them to establish, in the outset of life, the rule of unswerving _honesty_ and _integrity_, as their constant guide. Let it not be forgotten, that in every possible point of view, and in every conceivable condition of things, it will always be true, that "Honesty is the best policy."