than it is now.

It is of far less consequence _what_ we do in the world, my young
friends, than how well we do it. There is hardly a useful occupation
among us, in which a person may not be eminently serviceable to himself
and to mankind. There is hardly one in which we may not constantly
improve ourselves. There is hardly one which will not afford us the
means and opportunities of improving others. There is hardly an
occupation which may not itself be essentially improved.

I do not mean to say there is no choice in occupations, either as
regards pleasantness or usefulness. Nor do I mean to say, that neither
parents themselves nor their children, are ever to consult their own
natural preferences--their own likes and dislikes. All I aim at is, to
convince the young--especially the young woman--that the old couplet,

"Honor and shame from no condition rise;
Act well your part, there all the honor lies"--

is not so very far from the truth, as many suppose; and that happiness,
and even usefulness and excellence, are as little dependent on place
and condition, as honor and shame.

A mercantile man with whom I was once acquainted, gave me, in few
words, a very important lesson. He said he made it the rule of his life
to do, in the best possible manner, whatever at any time seemed, as a
subject of duty, to devolve upon him. No matter about his own likes or
dislikes--what appeared to be in the course of the dispensations of
Providence allotted him for the day, he performed with all his heart.
If he should conclude to pursue his present business for life, as the