Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1857-03-28
4 Short Patent Sermon on the Payment
of Debts,
BY DOW JR.

to overlook on account of their apparent uu
importance, the neglect of which has plung-
ed thousands into tbs deepest mre of misery,
and sunk their characters into inextricable
degradation. Among these ostensible trihes,
that of neglecting to pay ones honest debts
is most common, and attended with the
worst of consequences 1t takes off all the
silken furse from the fine threads of feeling
creates a sort of msanthropic GOODNESS about
the heart-and skins off all the cream that
may chance to rise upon the milk of gene
rosity. One debt begets another. / have
always observed that he who owes a man
dollar is also apt to owe him grudge; and
he is always more ready to pay compound
My friends, to be ,ver bead and ears in love
is as bad a pre2iramcns as ever any one
ought to be in; but to be so deeply in debt
that You cant sleep of nights without being
haunted by the ghost of some insatiate credi-
tor, is enough to give man the hydropho-
bia.
My dear friends The debt that sits
heaviest on the conscience of q mertal-if he
has any-is the debt due the printer It
presses harder upon ones bosom than the
ghtmare--galls the soul-frets and chafes
every enrolling acknowledgements all the
juice of fraternal sympathy from the heart
and leaves it drier than the surface of
roasted potatoe. A man who wrongs the
printer out of a single cent can never expect
to enjoy comfort in this world, and may
well have doubts of finding happiness in any
other. He will be apt to go down to the
grave eve time snail have bcdecked his brow
with the silvery blossoms of age; and the
green leaves of hope will fall before the first
bud of enjoyment has expanded. 1t is true
the mushrooms of peace may spring up dur
ing the short night of forgetfulness. but they
will all wither beneath the seorching rays
of rcmorse. The printer has poured into
the treasures ofyour minds some of the most
valuable gifts that anything short of God
can bestow. With the keys of magic, as it
were, be has opened the iron eased doors of
| the human ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS the
darkness Of ignorance, and lit up the lamps
of knowledge and wisdom. The efulgence
of that mighty engine--thc press, extends
over all the broad empire of the mind, it,
Eliminating the darkest avenues OF the heart;
and yet the printer, the man who tolls at
the lever of this soul enlightened instrument
is often robbed of his hard earned bread by
those whom he has delivered from mental
bondage and placed in paradise to lay off
and grow fat upon the fruits of his labors
My hearers. If you have hearts moisten-
ed with the dews Of mercy take heed what
| say anto you. If there be one among you
whose account is not settled with the printer
go and adjust it immediately, and be able
to hold up your head in society like Giraffe;
be respected by the wise and the good free
! from the tortures of a guilty conscience-the
modification of repeated duns-and escape
from falling into the clutches of the lawyers
If you are an honest. and honorable man,
you will go forthwith and pay the printer.
! You will not wait for the morrow-hecause
there is no tomorrow; it is but a visionary
receptacle for uurcdecmed promises the
debtors hope and the creditors curse If
you are dishonest, ow-minded sens of Sa-
tan, don't suppose you ever will pay the
printer, as long as you have no reputa-
ton to lose, no character TO sustain, and no
morals to cultivate But let me tell you,
my friends, that If you don't do it, your
paths to the tomb will be strewn with thorns
you will have to gather your daily food
| from brambles.
once called upon sick person, whom
the doctors had given up as a gone case. /
asked him if he had made his peace with his
Maker He said he thought he had. en-
quired if he had forgiven all his enemies
He replied, yes. l then asked him if he had
made his peace with his printer. He hesi-
tated for moment, then said he believed
he owed him about So so which he wished
to be paid before he died His desire was
Immediately gratiiied and from that mo-
ment he became convalescent. He is now
living, in good health and prosperity--at
peace with his own conscience, his God and
the whole world. Let this be an example
to you my friends. Patronize the printer.
take the papers, pay for them in advance,
and your days will be long upon earth, and
overlooking with the honey of happiness.
My hearers, pay all your debts and keep an
honorable reckoning with your fellow men;
but, above all, keep paying, by daily install
ments, that debt of everlasting gratitude
which you owe to Him from whom you OBJ
tanned capital sufficient to begin the first
transaction of life so that when you come
to balance accounts at the day of general
settlement, all things may appear fair and
above board. So mote it be.
A .Nuraia approaching A correspon-
dent of the London Times says that an cx-
ceedingly fatal epidemic has been for some
time ravaging the herds of Central Europe,
and has now reached Konigsberg, where
one proprietor is said to have lost three
hundred head in night. The writer says:
I'm 1745 the same or like epidemic
was introduced into England by means of
two calves from Holland. In the second
year after its introduction over 40, 900 cat
tie died in Nottinghamshire and Leicester