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INTRODUCTION TO MIXED DRINKS.
wards; yet the imagination on my part was at that
time like that of the rest of boys of the same age . But
with the advance in age, this imagination faded, for it
had to; and now I began to learn. A period of a few
years passed and I began to believe I knew something;
undoubtedly I did, but how little! and every day con–
vinces me more and more how much there is to be
learned, although I have given particular care to this
business close on to thirty years.
How often a man will overestimate himself, because
he happens to be successful, as well as another one
will undervalue his dexterity because good luck did
not favor him. Perhaps you think I was born with a
fortune
'~aiting
for me; I was, but I was not to keep it,
and only my misfortune in younger years is the cause,
and ha s ever since been, that made me work hard and
seek new ideas. There is no more reason for a well-off
man to give up his ambition than there is for another,
who did not meet with success, to despair. Surely it is
a nice, pleasant feeling for any one to be born rich; but
to be born with a silver spoon in the mouth and to die
with a fortune behind you, without having shown that
you accomplished something of value through your
daily toils and labors-no! I would rather be a dog
than a man without ambition and a record of toil.
My
dear readers ! Never was I guilty of not enjoy–
ing myself at every opportunity after business hours,
and I never will let the time pass by without doing so
hereafter. It is a pleasure to me to enjoy the labor,