long life, was he guilty of a transaction in which
the most rigid moralist could find a taint of sharp practice. What a
refutation of the theories of those who hold that cunning and trickery
are unavoidable some time in the course of a long and successful
mercantile career lies in the story of this man, who, beginning life
penniless, filled with a burning ambition to be rich and famous, never
swerved from the straight path of integrity, and by the exercise of only
the highest traits of his nature more than realized his boyish dreams!
Ponder it well, young man, and learn from it that honesty is indeed the
best policy in any calling.

Mr. Chickering had married early in life, and now had three sons just
entering upon manhood. These were carefully educated at the public
schools for which Boston is so justly famed, and then put into their
father's factory to learn the mechanical part of the business. It was
the father's ambition to be succeeded by his sons, but he was not
willing to trust the labor of his life to ignorant or incompetent hands.
At the age of seventeen, Thomas Chickering, the eldest son, was taken
from school, and, under his father's eye, taught every detail of the
mechanical branch of the business, until he understood it as well as the
senior Chickering himself. George, the second son, in due time passed
through the same course of training; while Francis, the youngest, was
brought up in the warehouse. The father thoroughly imbued his sons with
his own system and energy, and to-day we see the result. The firm of
Chickering & Sons is still the most prominent in America. Thomas is now
the acting head of the house, and has led it on to continued success;
Francis is the presiding genius of the mechanical department, and has
made many important improvements in the field in which his father won
success; and George exercises a general supervision at the immense
factory in Boston. The mantle of the father has fallen upon the sons,
and his labors have found their highest reward in their success.

Mr. Chickering's good fortune was not entirely uninterrupted. On the 1st
of December, 1852, his factory was burned to the ground, with all its
valuable patterns, stock, etc., involving a loss to him of two hundred
thousand dollars. The interruption to his business was very serious,
apart from the loss of his property. Expressions of sympathy poured in
upon him from his friends, coupled with offers of pecuniary assistance
in