bers of Congress
invited to dine at the White House would sometimes arrive late, and be
mortified to find the President eating. "My cook," Washington would
say, "never asks if the visitors have arrived, but if the hour has
arrived."

When his secretary excused the lateness of his attendance by saying
that his watch was too slow, Washington replied, "Then you must get a
new watch, or I another secretary."

Franklin said to a servant who was always late, but always ready with
an excuse, "I have generally found that the man who is good at an
excuse is good for nothing else."

Napoleon once invited his marshals to dine with him, but, as they did
not arrive at the moment appointed, he began to eat without them. They
came in just as he was rising from the table. "Gentlemen," said he,
"it is now past dinner, and we will immediately proceed to business."

Bluecher was one of the promptest men that ever lived. He was called
"Marshal Forward."

John Quincy Adams was never known to be behind time. The Speaker of
the House of Representatives knew when to call the House to order by
seeing Mr. Adams coming to his seat. Once a member said that it was
time to begin. "No," said another, "Mr. Adams is not in his seat." It
was found that the clock was three minutes fast, and prompt to the
minute, Mr. Adams arrived.

Webster was never late at a recitation in school or college. In court,
in congress, in society, he was equally punctual. Amid the cares and
distractions of a singularly busy life, Horace Greeley managed to be on
time for every appointment. Many a trenchant paragraph for the
"Tribune" was written while the editor was waiting for men of leisure,
tardy at some meeting.

Punctuality is the soul of business, as brevity is of wit.

During the first seven years of his mercantile career, Amos Lawrence
did not permit a bill to remain unsettled over Sunday. Punctuality is
said to be the politeness of princes. Some men are always running to
catch up with their business: they are always in a hurry, and give you
the impression that they are late for a train. They lack method, and
seldom accomplish much. Every business man knows that there are
moments on which hang the destiny of years. If you arrive a few
moments late at the bank, your paper may be protested and your credit
ruined.

One of the best things about school and college life is that the bell
which strikes the hour for rising, for recitations, or for le