A WAY TO BE HAPPY. 149

 

“T should think you were; but I may
be mistaken. Man can never foresee what
will be the operations of Providence. If
you should ever recommence business, how-
ever, it ought not to be from this fear. You
should act from a higher and better motive.
You should reflect that it is every man’s
duty to engage in some business or calling
by which the whole community will be
benefited, and, for this reason, and this
alone, resolve that while you have the abi-
lity, you will be a working bee, and not a
drone in the hive. It is not only wrong,
but a disgrace for any man to be idle when
there is so much to do.”

Mr. Parker was surprised to hear his old
customer talk in this way: but surprise
was not his only feeling—he was deeply
impressed with the truth of what he had
said.

“T believe, after all, that you are right,
and I am wrong. Certainly, there is no
disguising the fact that my life has become
a real burden to me, and that business