A person who cannot withstand the itching desire to have an interest in something or other, is almost sure to be a man of that soft texture of character that yields to influences that are unworthy of serious attention, and he will consequently be led into error and loss probably oftener than not, and his operations will end in failure. It must be obvious to every reflecting mind, that so dangerous a game as Stock Exchange speculation, or speculation which partakes of the same nature, in another commodity, entered into, if it be only partly to satisfy a craving for some sort of excitement, is a very unwholesome pastime.[33] Of all occupations Stock Exchange Speculation is the last to be thought of as an amusement for the man who wishes for some light kind of business that can be done with an off-hand air, and without any of the drudgery that is the real power in money-making. And yet there is no doubt that a large proportion who feed the ever copiously flowing stream of profits that the members of the Stock Exchange are diligently gathering from day to day, are persons who, having nothing better to do, are drawn by an insatiable desire for some occupation into the ranks of the haphazard speculators. Once fairly entangled in the meshes of loss, the struggles to recover it are usually attended by worse disasters. It may also be shown that a desire to satisfy a craving for a class of excitement which partakes somewhat of the nature of sober business, in its earlier stages at least, allows admission to the mind of an element which makes havoc with the judgment, and consequently forms an ingredient in the nature of a speculator, which is almost sure to bring him sooner or later to grief. Before a man enters upon the business of speculation, he ought, if he is to have a fair chance, to clear his reasoning powers from any such unwholesome encumbrances as even the faintest desire for excitement. Every step a speculator takes should be, as far as possible, as deliberate as if he knew perfectly well that the slightest miscalculation would certainly involve him in loss. [Sidenote: WHAT NOT TO DO.] In engaging in speculative commitments, the great difficulty that presents itself is not so much what to buy or sell, as what not to buy or sell. When to do something, and when to do nothing. Here lies a problem, the solution of which costs such a number of speculators their money and their peace of mind afterwards, to say nothing of the chronic dyspepsia that afflicts them until they are forced to quit the field. [Sidenote: SPECIAL INFORMATION.] [Sidenote: MUCH MONEY ONLY OBTAINABLE AS A CERTAINTY BY HARD WORK.]