How to Succeed

We are passing through a fearful commercial and financial depression, caused mainly by inflation, extravagance, and a too free use of credit.

The heavy shrinkage in the value of nearly all investments, and the fearful decline in agricultural and manufacturing products, followed by general stagnation of trade, have produced numerous failures even among those who, heretofore, have been regarded as prudent and cautious.

Failures often arise from a want of tact, application, enterprise and business talent. Not one man in a thousand is what you would call a "born merchant."

Those who generally succeed make themselves merchants or business men by unceasing application and toil.

It is a lamentable fact that not ten per cent, of those who engage in commerce succeed.

The wonder is, when we see so many shipwrecked in mercantile pursuits, that there are any so bold as to venture in trade.

Most of the beginners are unwilling to follow in the slow road of toil and struggle which leads to fortune.

By some speculation they hope to step from the bottom round to the top of the ladder.

I have a directory of Augusta, Ga., published about the time I began business in that city. In the long list of firms, banks, and insurance companies that were in existence then, I do not believe one is left!

Very few of the merchants retired with even a competence. We cannot but regard the present condition of the country with painful anxiety.

I have not time now to discuss fully the great questions which disturb nearly every interest, and will merely make such suggestions as may be of use to those who are struggling to repair their wasted fortunes.

If the crude thoughts which I may, from time to time, utter in these letters, will put the young men of the South to thinking and acting, I will accomplish all that I hope for.

It is my desire to stir them up to greater diligence and activity. If our young men cannot grow rich, they may, at least, become independent, and make useful and virtuous citizens.

As distasteful as it is to the majority of our people, it may be necessary, as well as advantageous, for our young men to go back to first principles, and devote themselves to agriculture.

When our first parent was driven from the garden of Eden, he was commanded to till the ground, and earn his bread by the sweat of his face. Now, when we consider that the fruits of the earth have been, and ever will be the source of all wealth, then why do not more of our young men cultivate the soil instead of flocking to towns and cities to engage in pursuits which do not add one blade of grass, or one ear of corn, to the produce and wealth of the country?

God made the earth to be cultivated, and not to be choked with thistles for want of laborers.

There is no life so independent as that of a farmer; and it is astonishing to see how soon an industrious young man, blessed with a thrifty wife, can, on a small farm, surround himself with the comforts of life; for, after all, our wants are more imaginary than real. Many vainly think that to be happy we must have great wealth; it is true, that money, wisely used, is a good thing, and brings with it comforts and independence; but the farmer who has his green pastures, flocks and herds of sheep, goats, cattle, and horses, and barns filled with the products of the land, such a man is truly one of the lords of the soil.

The Greeks and Romans placed agriculture among the divinities of their religion. I do not ask so much for it, but I do ask that it be regarded as one of the respectable occupations of life to be a farmer. While I regard agricultural pursuits as the safest and surest road to success, yet I consider the merchant, banker, and artisan, as active co-laborers, and almost indispensable to the tillers of the soil; for without the aid of the merchant the handling and distributing the surplus products of the farm, much of it would go to waste.

The feverish risk and excitement of a commercial life makes me enjoy all the more the few months I spend each summer amidst the green pastures and fertile fields of my quiet valley home.

My first occupation was the cultivation of the soil, and I have a love to this day for the life of a farmer. It was in agricultural pursuits that I laid the foundation of health, which has been so essential to me in my arduous commercial duties.

It is indeed pleasant to revisit the scenes of my youth, and exchange for a few months, the heat, dust and strife of the city, for the healthful mountain breezes of my Nacoochee home; but the great advantage is the change for our children. It does them good to come in [...]