His manuscript school-books, which are still preserved, show that, as early as the age of thirteen, he occupied himself voluntarily in copying out such things as forms of receipts, notes of hand, bills of exchange, bonds, indentures, leases, land-warrants, and other dry documents, all written out with great care.

And the habits which he thus early acquired were, in a great measure, the foundation of those admirable business qualities which he afterwards so successfully brought to bear in the affairs of government.
The man or woman who achieves success in the management of any great affair of business is entitled to honour,--it may be, to as much as the artist who paints a picture, or the author who writes a book, or the soldier who wins a battle.

Their success may have been gained in the face of as great difficulties, and after as great struggles; and where they have won their battle, it is at least a peaceful one, and there is no blood on their hands.
The idea has been entertained by some, that business habits are incompatible with genius.

In the Life of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, [1316] it is observed of a Mr.Bicknell--a respectable but ordinary man, of whom little is known but that he married Sabrina Sidney, the ELEVE of Thomas Day, author of 'Sandford and Merton'-- that "he had some of the too usual faults of a man of genius: he detested the drudgery of business." But there cannot be a greater mistake.

The greatest geniuses have, without exception, been the greatest workers, even to the extent of drudgery.