id that if he disliked a fellow pressman and wished to be rid of
him, he merely put forth his immense strength and outworked him. The
man being unable to keep up with him, was obliged to retire.

"The habits of his rural home followed him to the city. In an age when
every body drank ardent spirits freely, he was strictly temperate, and
the cold water disciple justified his faith by his works. With the
cheerful constancy of the fathers of his church he quietly resisted the
temptations of the city. He opened a prayer-meeting in the house of an
old colored woman in Ann Street, and joined the John Street Methodist
Church. Meanwhile, to their simple and thrifty method of life, James and
his brother added work out of hours, so that when their apprenticeship
was ended they had a little money saved."

James' excellent habits and great skill as a workman had given entire
satisfaction to his master during the whole period of his
apprenticeship, and he informed the young man at the expiration of his
indentures that he was willing to employ him again at fair wages. The
young workman surprised him by telling him that he intended to set up
for himself, and that all he wanted from him now was a certificate that
he was fit to be trusted with a book. This was given, and James and his
brother John took their little capital, which was increased by a loan of
a few hundred dollars from their father, and renting a small room in
Dover Street, set up an office on their own account, and began business
under the firm name of J. & J. Harper. Their capital was small--less
than the annual wages of some of their workmen to-day--but they were
sustained by industry, determination, and high moral principle. When
they began business, it was with a tacit agreement that each would
endeavor to deserve the confidence of the other, and of their
fellow-men. There was to be no evasion of principle, no sharp practice,
in their house. They were resolved to make money, but to make it
honestly. They would engage in no transaction which should cause a
doubt of their integrity in the breast of the good mother who had sent
them forth with her blessing.

More than fifty years have passed away since then, and the Harpers have
prospered steadily, and so greatly, too, that for many years their house
has stood at the head of the publishing interest of America. Their
career is an instructive one, giving an emphatic denial to the assertion
we hear so often repeated, that