“Patronage does it all,” said a third. “You must have somebody to take you by the hand, and help you up, or you have no chance.” James Halford heard all these varied opinions of the world, but still persisted in looking upwards, for he had faith in himself. He rose from the lowest situation in a store till he became a trader for himself, and amassed a large fortune. Mr. Freedley’s unvarying motto was—“Self-reliance and self-dependence.” He said—“My observations through life satisfy me, that at least nine-tenths of those most successful in business start in life without any reliance except upon their own heads and hands—_hoe their own_ row from the jump.” Nicholas Longworth, the Cincinnati millionaire, says—“I have always had these two things before me:—Do what you undertake thoroughly. Be faithful in all accepted trusts.” Stephen Gerard’s motto was the well-worn one—“Take care of the cents, the dollars will take care of themselves.” Mr. Stuart, the merchant prince of New York, said—“No abilities, however splendid, can command success without intense labour and persevering application.” David Ricardo had his three golden rules when on the Stock Exchange. They were—“Never refuse an option when you can get it.” “Cut short your losses.” “Let your profits run on.” A man who had, by his own unaided exertions, become rich, was asked by his friend the secret of success. His reply was—“I accumulated about half my property by attending to my own business, and the other half by letting other people’s entirely alone.” According to the great Wedgewood, there was another—an eleventh commandment; and it was—“Thou shalt not be idle.” Let us string together, in this collection, a few of Poor Richard’s maxims— “I never saw an oft-removed tree, Nor yet an oft-removed family, That throve as well as those that settled be.” Again, he wrote— “He that by the plough would thrive, Himself must either hold or drive.” Here is another— “Many estates are spent in the getting, Since women for tea forsook spinning and knitting, And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting.” One must be recorded here for the benefit of the reader who would achieve commercial success— “Women and wine, game and deceit, Make the wealth small and the want great.” Again, Poor Richard writes— “Fond pride of dress is sure a curse; Ere fancy you consult—consult your purse.” A truthful warning is contained in the following lines— “Vessels large may venture more, But little boats should keep near shore.” All should remember— “For age and want save what you may, No morning sun lasts a whole day.” And this other— “Get what you can, and what you get hold, ’Tis the stone that will turn all your lead to gold.” One equally well worth remembering as any of Poor Richard’s, is— “A penny saved is twopence clear, A pin a day is a groat a year.”