As a partiality for the right kind of literature grows on a man he is unconsciously forming his mind and his taste and his style, and by a natural impulse and no forced growth the whole world of letters is his.

There are, of course, in addition, certain special branches of education needing teaching which are of particular value to the business life.

Foremost among these are mathematics and foreign languages.  It is not suggested that a knowledge of the higher mathematics is essential to a successful career; none the less it is true that the type of mind which takes readily to mathematics is the kind which succeeds in the realm of industry and finance.

One of the things I regret is that my business career was shaped on a continent which speaks one single language for commercial purposes from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf of Mexico.  Foreign languages are, therefore, a sealed book to me.  But if a man can properly appraise the value of something he does not possess, I would place a knowledge of languages high in the list of acquirements making for success.

But when all is said and done, the real education is the market-place of the street.  There the study of character enables the boy of judgment to develop an unholy proficiency in estimating the value of the currency of the realm.

Experiences teaches that no man ought to be downcast in setting out on the adventure of life by a lack of formal knowledge.  The Lord Chancellor asked me the other day where I was going to educate one of my sons.  When I replied that I had not thought about the matter, and did not care, he was unable to repress his horror.

And yet the real reasons for such indifference are deep rooted in my mind.  A boy is master, and the only master, of his fortune.  If he wants to succeed in literature, he will read the classics until he obtains by what he draws into himself that kind of instinct which enables him to distinguish between good work and bad, just as the expert with his eyes shut knows the difference between a good and a bad cigar.  Neither may be able to give any reason, for the verdict bases on subconscious knowledge, but each will be right when he says, “Here I have written well,” or “Here I have smoked badly.”

The message, therefore, is one of encouragement to the young men of England who are determined to succeed in the affairs of the world, and yet have not been through the mill.  The public schools turn out a type—­the individual turns out himself.  In the hour of action it is probable that the individual will defeat the type.  Nothing is of advantage in style except reading for oneself.  Nothing is of advantage in the art of learning to know a good cigar but the actual practice of smoking.  Nothing is of advantage in business except going in young, liking the game, and buying one’s experience.

In a word, man is the creator and not the sport of his fate.  He can triumph over his upbringing and, what is more, over himself.