Part 62

The game is played fifteen, twenty-one, or any other determined number of points. The balls should be perfectly round and smooth. They are generally made of boxwood or lignum vitæ, and weigh about three to five lbs. each; the balls, cues, &c., are sold by most dealers in croquet implements.

2597. Habits of a Man of Business.

A sacred regard to the principles of justice forms the basis of every transaction, and regulates the conduct of the upright man of business. The following statements afford a bird's-eye view, as it were, of his habits, practice, and mode of procedure:

i. He is strict in keeping his engagements.

ii. He does nothing carelessly or in a hurry.

iii. He employs nobody to do what he can easily do himself.

iv. He keeps everything in its proper place.

v. He leaves nothing undone that ought to be done, and which circumstances permit him to do.

vi. He keeps his designs and business from the view of others.

vii. He is prompt and decisive with his customers, and does not over-trade his capital.

viii. He prefers short credits to long ones; and cash to credit at all times, either in buying or selling; and small profits in credit cases with little risk, to the chance of better gains with more hazard.

ix. He is clear and explicit in all his bargains.

x. He leaves nothing of consequence to memory which he can and ought to commit to writing.

xi. He keeps copies of all his important letters which he sends away, and has every letter, invoice, &c., belonging to his business, titled, classed, and put away.

xii. He never suffers his desk to be confused by many papers lying upon it.

xiii. He is always at the head of his business, well knowing that if he leaves it, it will leave him.

xiv. He holds it as a maxim that he whose credit is suspected is not one to be trusted.

xv. He is constantly examining his books, and sees through all his affairs as far as care and attention will enable him.

xvi. He balances regularly at stated times, and then makes out and transmits all his accounts current to his customers, both at home and abroad.

xvii. He avoids as much as possible all sorts of accommodation in money matters, and lawsuits where there is the least hazard.

xviii. He is economical in his expenditure, always living within his income.

xix. He keeps a memorandum-book in his pocket, in which he notes every particular relative to appointments, addresses, and petty cash matters.

xx. He is cautious how he becomes security for any person; and is generous when urged by motives of humanity.

Let a man act strictly to these habits--ever remembering that he hath no profits by his pains whom Providence doth not prosper--and success will attend his efforts.

2598. Taking a Shop or Place of Business.

If you are about to take a place of business, you will do well to consider the following remarks:

2599. Small Capitalists.

Let us take the case of a person who has no intimate knowledge of any

## particular trade, but having a very small capital, is about to embark

it in the exchange of commodities for cash, in order to obtain an honest livelihood thereby. It is clear, that unless such a person starts with proper precaution and judgment, the capital will be expended without adequate results; rent and taxes will accumulate, the stock will lie dead or become deteriorated, and loss and ruin must follow. For the last absorption acting upon a small capital will soon dry up its source; and we need not picture the trouble that will arise when the mainspring of a tradesman's success abides by him no more.

2600. Larger Capitalists.

The case of the larger capitalist can scarcely be considered an exception to the same rule. For it is probable that the larger capitalist, upon commencing a business, would sink more of his funds in a larger stock--would incur liability to a heavier rent; and the attendant taxes, the wages of assistants and servants would be greater, and, therefore, if the return came not speedily, similar consequences must sooner or later ensue.

2601. Localities.

Large or small capitalists should, therefore, upon entering on a shopkeeping speculation, consider well the nature of the locality in which they propose to carry on trade, the number of the population, the habits and wants of the people, and the extent to which they are already supplied with the goods which the new adventurer proposes to offer them.

2602. New Neighbourhoods.

There is a tendency among small capitalists to rush into new neighbourhoods with the expectation of making an early connection. Low rents also serve as an attraction to these localities. General experience, however, tends to show that the early suburban shops seldom succeed. They are generally entered upon at the very earliest moment that the state of the locality will permit--often before the house is finished the shop is tenanted, and goods exposed for sale--even while the streets are unpaved, and while the roads are as rough and uneven as country lanes.

The consequence is, that as the few inhabitants of these localities have frequent communication with adjacent centres of business, they, as a matter of habit or of choice, supply their chief wants thereat; and the newly arrived shopkeeper has to depend principally for support upon the accidental forgetfulness of his neighbour, who omits to bring something from the cheaper and better market; or upon the changes of the weather, which may sometimes favour him by rendering a "trip to town" exceedingly undesirable.

2603. Failures.

"While the grass is growing the horse is starving;" and thus, while the new district is becoming peopled the funds of the small shopkeeper are gradually eaten up, and he puts up his shutters just at the time when a more cautious speculator steps in to profit by the connection already formed, and to take advantage of the new improved condition of the locality. It seems, therefore, desirable for the small capitalists rather to run the risk of a more expensive rent, in a well-peopled district, than to resort to places of slow and uncertain demand; for the welfare of the small shopkeeper depends entirely upon the frequency with which his limited stock is cleared out and replaced by fresh supplies.

2604. Precautions.

But should the small capitalist still prefer opening in a suburban district, where competition is less severe, and rents and rates less burdensome, there are certain precautions which he will do well to observe. He should particularly guard against opening a shop to supply what may be termed the superfluities of life; for the inhabitants of new suburban districts are those who, like himself, have resorted to a cheap residence for the sake of economy. Or if this be not the case--if they are people of independent means, who prefer the "detached villa" to the town house, squeezed up on both sides, they have the means of riding and driving to town, and will prefer choosing articles of taste and luxury from the best marts, enriched by the finest display.

2605. Necessaries or Luxuries.

The suburban shopkeeper should, therefore, confine himself to supplying the _necessaries_ of life. Hungry people dislike to fetch their bread from five miles off; and to bring vegetables from a long distance would evidently be a matter of considerable inconvenience. The baker, the butcher, the greengrocer, the beer retailer, &c., are those who find their trade first established in suburban localities. And not until these are doing well should the tailor, the shoemaker, the hatter, the draper, the hosier, and others, expect to find a return for their capital and reward for their labour.

2606. Civility.

In larger localities, where competition abounds, the small shopkeeper frequently outstrips his more powerful rival by one element of success, which may be added to any stock without cost, but cannot be withheld without loss. That element is _civility_. It has already been spoken of elsewhere, but must be enforced here, as aiding the little means of the small shopkeeper to a wonderful degree. A kind and obliging manner carries with it an indescribable charm. It must not be a manner which indicates a mean, grovelling time-serving spirit, but a plain, open, and agreeable demeanour, which seems to desire to oblige for the pleasure of doing so, and not for the sake of squeezing an extra penny out of a customer's pocket.

2607. Integrity.

The sole reliance of the shopkeeper should be in the integrity of his transactions, and in the civility of his demeanour. He should make it the interest and the pleasure of the customer to come to his shop. If he does this, he will form the very best "connections," and so long as he continues this system of business, they will never desert him.

2608. Duties of a Shopkeeper.

He should cheerfully render his best labour and knowledge to serve those who approach his counter, and place confidence in his transactions; make himself alike to rich and poor, but never resort to mean subterfuge and deception to gain approbation and support. He should be frugal in his expenditure, that in deriving profits from trade, he may not trespass unduly upon the interest of others; he should so hold the balance between man and man that he should feel nothing to reprove his conscience when the day comes for him to repose from his labours and live upon the fruits of his industry. Let the public discover such a man, and they will flock around him for their own sakes.

2609. A Very Useful Book.

A very useful book, "The Handy Book of Shopkeeping, Shopkeeper's Guide" [1] (published at one shilling), enlarges upon these subjects in a very able manner, and gives most useful hints to people in every dapartment of trade.

[Footnote 1: Houlston and Sons, London.]

2610. Early Rising.

The difference between rising every morning at six and eight, in the course of forty years, amounts to 29,200 hours, or three years one hundred and twenty-one days and sixteen hours, which are equal to eight hours a day for exactly ten years So that rising at six will be the same as if ten years of life (a weighty consideration) were added, wherein we may command eight hours every day for the cultivation of our minds and the despatch of business.

2611. Frugality.

i. The great philosopher, Dr. Franklin, inspired the mouthpiece of his own eloquence, "Poor Richard," with "many a gem of purest ray serene," encased in the homely garb of proverbial truisms. On the subject of frugality we cannot do better than take the worthy Mentor for our text, and from it address our remarks. A man may, if he knows not how to save as he gets, "keep his nose all his life to the grindstone, and die not worth a groat at last. A fat kitchen makes a lean will."

"Many estates are spent in getting, Since women for tea forsook spinning and knitting, And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting."

ii. If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as of getting. The Indies have not made Spain rich, because her out-goes are greater than her in-comes.

iii. Away with your expensive follies, and you will not have so much cause to complain of hard times, heavy taxes, and chargeable families.

iv. "What maintains one vice would bring up two children."

v. You may think, perhaps, that a little tea, or superfluities now and then, diet a little more costly, clothes a little finer, and a little entertainment now and then, can be no great matter; but remember, "Many a little makes a mickle."

vi. Beware of little expenses: "A small leak will sink a great ship," as Poor Richard says; and again, "Who dainties love, shall beggars prove;" and moreover, "Fools make feasts and wise men eat them."

vii. Here you are all got together to this sale of fineries and nick-nacks. You call them goods; but if you do not take care they will prove evils to some of you. You expect they will be sold cheap, and perhaps they may, for less than they cost; but if you have no occasion for them they must be dear to you.

viii. Remember what Poor Richard says, "Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessaries."

ix. "At a great pennyworth, pause awhile." He means, perhaps, that the cheapness is apparent only, and not real; or the bargain, by straightening thee in thy business, may do thee more harm than good; for in another place he says, "Many have been ruined by buying good pennyworths."

x. "It is foolish to lay out money in the purchase of repentance;" and yet this folly is practised every day at auctions for want of minding the Almanack.

2612. Cash and Credit.

If you would get rich, don't deal in bill books. Credit is the "Tempter in a new shape." Buy goods on trust, and you will purchase a thousand articles that cash would never have dreamed of. A shilling in the hand looks larger than ten shillings seen through the perspective of a three months' bill. Cash is practical, while credit takes horribly to taste and romance. Let cash buy a dinner, and you will have a beef-steak flanked with onions. Send credit to market, and he will return with eight pairs of woodcocks and a peck of mushrooms. Credit believes in diamond pins and champagne suppers. Cash is more easily satisfied. Give him three meals a day, and he doesn't care much if two of them are made up of roasted potatoes and a little salt. Cash is a good adviser, while credit is a good fellow to be on visiting terms with. If you want double chins and contentment, do business with cash.

2613. Hints upon Money Matters.

Have a supply of change in hand--shillings, sixpences, halfpence. This will obviate the various inconveniences of keeping people at the door, sending out at unreasonable times, and running or calling after any inmate in the house, supposed to be better provided with "the needful." The tradespeople with whom you regularly deal will always give you extra change, _when_ you are making purchases or paying bills; while those to whom you apply for it, on a sudden emergency, may neither be willing nor able to do so. Some housekeepers object to this arrangement, that, "as soon as five-pound notes or sovereigns are changed, they always seem to go, without their understanding how;" but to such persons I would humbly intimate, that this is rather the fault of their _not getting understanding_, than any inevitable consequence of _getting change_.

The fact is, that it is the necessity of parting with your money which obliges you to get the larger pieces changed, and not the circumstance of having smaller coin that _necessitates_ your parting with your money, though it certainly facilitates your doing so when the necessity arrives. However, as it is easier to count a few sovereigns than many shillings, and loose money is most objectionable, it is well to put up reserve change in small collective packets, and to replenish the housekeeping purse from these daily or weekly, as may be most convenient.

[DEATH DOES NOT BLOW A TRUMPET.]

2614. Save Time and Trouble.

If Money for daily expenses has to pass through the hands of a servant, it is a time-and-trouble-saving plan to settle with her _every_ night, and to make up her cash in hand to a certain _similar_ sum. This will prevent such puzzling calculations as the following:

"Let me see: I gave you 10s. on Saturday, and 9d. the day before. Was it 9d.? No, it must have been 11d., for I gave you 1s., and you gave me 1d. out for the beggar; then there was 6s. 6d. on Monday, and 8d. you owed me from last money; and then the 1s. 6d. your master gave you for a parcel--you brought him 2d. back, and 3d-1/2. out of the butcher's bill; no--_you_ had to give 3-1/2d. to the butcher, but you came to me for the 1/2d., and I had no coppers, so we still owe him the 1/2d.; by the way, don't forget to pay him the next time you go. Then there's the baker--no, I paid the baker myself, and I _think_ the housemaid paid the butter-man; but you got in the cheese the day before, and I have a sort of recollection that I may possibly owe you for _that_, all but a few pence you must have had left of mine, that I told you to take from off the chimney-piece. Well, cook, I think that's _nearly_ all! Now how do your accounts stand?"

This the poor cook, who _is_ a cook, and _not_ a conjuror, finds it no easy matter to discover; all that she is quite certain of is, that her disbursements have somewhat exceeded her receipts, and being an honest woman, though a poor one, she wishes to cheat neither her mistress nor herself; but what with her memory and her want of it, her involved payments, and different receipts; what she owed her mistress, and what her mistress owes her; what she got from her master, and what was

## partly settled by the housemaid; the balance from the butcher's bill,

and the intricacies of the cheese account, the poor woman is perfectly bewildered.

She counts again and again; recapitulates her mistress's data and her own; sums upwards, backwards, and forwards, and endeavours to explain the differences between them; then, if she can read and write, she brings her slate to "explain the explanation," and the united calculations of maid and mistress, which are after all entirely unavailing to produce a more correct account, probably consume more time, and are expressed in more words, than would suffice to fill another volume like the present. Two minutes' daily reckoning from a _regular_ sum in hand would do the business effectually, and prevent either party from being out of pocket or out of temper. Thus, for instance, the maid has her usual sum of five shillings to account for; she pays during the day, for:

s. d. Bread 1 9 Beer 0 6 Vegetables and fruit 0 10 Milk 0 4 Matches 0 1 Parcel 1 0 ______ Total 4 6

This is easily reckoned, even by the unlearned; the mistress enters the items in her day-book, takes the remaining sixpence, and again gives her servant 5s., in convenient change, to be as readily accounted for on the succeeding day.

_Home Truths for Home Peace_; or, _Muddle Defeated._

[TIME BRINGS EVERYTHING TO THOSE WHO CAN WAIT.]

2615. Don't Run in Debt.

"Don't run in debt;"--never mind, never mind If your clothes are faded and torn: Mend them up, make them do; it is better by far Than to have the heart weary and worn. Who'll love you the more for the shape of your hat, Or your ruff, or the tie of your shoe, The cut of your vest, or your boots, or cravat, If they know you're in debt for the new? There's no comfort, I tell you, in walking the street In fine clothes, if you know you're in debt, And feel that, perchance, you some tradesman may meet, Who will sneer--"They're not paid for yet." Good friends, let me beg of you, don't run in debt; If the chairs and the sofas are old, They will fit your back better than any new set, Unless they are paid for--with gold; If the house is too small, draw the closer together, Keep it warm with a hearty good-will; A big one unpaid for, in all kinds of weather, Will send to your warm heart a chill. Don't run in debt--now, dear girls, take a hint, if the fashions have changed since last season, Old Nature is out in the very same tint, And old Nature, we think, has some reason; But just say to your friend, that you cannot afford To spend time to keep up with the fashion; That your purse is too light and your honour too bright, To be tarnished with such silly passion. Men, don't run in debt--let your friends, if they can. Have fine houses, and feathers, and flowers: But, unless they are paid for, be more of a man Than to envy their sunshiny hours. If you've money to spare, I have nothing to say-- Spend your silver and gold as you please; But mind you, the man who his bill has to pay Is the man who is never at ease. Kind husbands, don't run into debt any more; 'Twill fill your wives' cup full of sorrow To know that a neighbour may call at your door, With a claim you must settle to-morrow Oh! take my advice--it is good, it is true! But, lest you may some of you doubt it, I'll whisper a secret now, seeing 'tis you-- I have tried it, and know all about it, _The chain of a debtor is heavy and cold. Its links all corrosion and rust; Gild it o'er as you will, it is never of gold, Then spurn it aside with disgust_.

2616. Carving, Ceremonies of the Table, &c.

A dinner-table should be well laid, well lighted, and always afford a little spare room. It is better to invite one friend less in number, than to destroy the comfort of the whole party.

2617. The Laying out of a Table.

The laying out of a table must greatly depend upon the nature of the dinner or supper, the taste of the host, the description of the company, and the appliances possessed. It would be useless, therefore, to lay down specific rules. The whiteness of the table-cloth, the clearness of glass, the polish of plate, and the judicious distribution of ornamental groups of fruits and flowers, are matters deserving the utmost attention.

2618. A Sideboard.

A sideboard will greatly relieve a crowded table, upon which may be placed many things incidental to the successive courses, until they are required.

2619. Menu.

A bill of fare or Menu at large dinner parties, where there are several courses, should be provided neatly inscribed upon small tablets, and distributed about the table, that the diners may know what there is to come.

2620. Napkins.

Napkins should be folded neatly. The French method, which is very easy, of folding the napkin like a fan, placing it in a glass, and spreading out the upper part, is very pleasing. But the English method of folding is like a slipper, and placing the bread inside its folds is convenient as well as neat.

[AS THE VIRTUE IS IN THE TREE, SUCH IS THE FRUIT.]

2621. Bread.

Bread should be cut into thick squares, the last thing after the table is laid. If cut too early it becomes dry. A tray should he provided, in which there should be a further supply of bread, new, stale, and brown. For cheese, pulled bread should be provided.

2622. Carving-knives.

Carving-knives should be "put in edge" before the dinner commences, for nothing irritates a good carver, or perplexes a bad one, more than a knife which refuses to perform its office; and there is nothing more annoying to the company than to see the carving-knife gliding to and fro over the steel while the dinner is getting cold, and their appetites are being exhausted by delay.

2623. Joints.

Joints that require carving should be set upon dishes sufficiently large. The space of the table may be economised by setting upon small dishes those things that do not require carving.

2624. The Carver.

The carver should have plenty of room, however closely the diners are compelled to sit together.

2625. The Vegetables.