West-Jersey pioneer., 1869-06-11
ON GOING SURETY.
HENRY WARD BEECHER.

HENRY WARD BEECHER. @
/ Ought man ever to go surety for an
other? Why not It is most friendly
act. If prudently done, it may be of the
most eminent benefit to neighbor. 1t
4 gives him the benefit of your good repu-
tation when he is not known. 1t lends
him your credit where his own is not
sufficient. 1t puts him in funds which
otherwise he could not command. Such
service to friend is generous, and some
times even noble. No better use can be
made OF ones money than to help true
friend. We are commanded to remem-
Der those in bonds as bound with them"
10 be sure this was originally applied to
bonds of different kind, but with not
whit more propriety than to pecuniary
bonds. A man who, by few thousand
dollars, can save his friend, and perhaps
his family, from bankruptcy and want,
could hardly spend his money in man
ner which, all his life long, he would re-
member with more satisfaction.
But, there are certain moral and pru-
dental considerations which should al
ways be borne in mind in going surety
for friend. You should make up your
mind hoao much property you haze, and
ho~ "sae6 you are aoazling to give array,
absolutely, for that friend whom you in
dorse. For no blunder can be worse than
to indorse on the supposition that you soiU
not haze to pay. Never indorse without
saying to yourself, ''This may come round
upon me. [ may have to-pay it; and, if
it comes to that, l am able and willing.o
Nine out of ten of the fatal mistakes made
by bonsmen arise from taking theopposite
course to this. They consider the act of
indorsing friends paper as mere COM
merclal form. ''There is no risk. shall
not have it to pay. Heis abundantly able
to take care of his paper. 1 shall help
him without harming myself, and he is
stingy man who will not do that" This
is the calculation on which man binds
himself to pay friends debts in case the
friend can not pay them himself. But
how do these things turn out? One need
not go far to ascertain Every VILLAGE
has an illustration. The borrower was
more involved than you supposed, or, per-
haps, than he himself knew, and his cred
ltors closed on him and wound him up,
and were overjoyed to find such good
name as yours on his paper. Or, the san
gulne scheme on which he had ventured,
loaded wagon slipped Of waagrn faEanat ah88 88idab=
set into the dirt!
Or, just as every thing was at the noint
of success, your friend sickened and eouTu
not look after his affairs, some critical mat
ter was neglected, or some dishonest per-
son stepped in and crooked matters: your
friend died, the estate went into executors
hands for settlement, was badly managed,
warped and crooked, and finally turned
out insolvent.
And what became fyou? Why, you
were surety for the full amount of what
you are worth ! In an hour you find your
self confronted with debt that sweeps
away your house, your farm, your little
sum in bank, and leaves you just where
you began twenty-five years ago, with this
difference, that then you had only your
self to provide for, and now you have
wife and eight children. Then you were
twenty-five years old and life was all be-
fore you, and now you are fifty years old,
and life pretty much all behind you!
You have given away your children's
bread You have not saved your friend,
but have ruined yourself! Perhaps your
friend had settled on his wife small pro-
perty So much the better for her if he
had. Of course she will divide with you,
since it was to save her husband, that you
we're ruined But, if she will not, (and
human nature is made up of shaky stuff,)
and her children go to school, while yours
stay at home; and if they live in a com
Portable house, pleasantly furnished, while
you are hiringa few rooms the cheapest
quarter of the town, then suspect that
you will chew the end of great many
bitter reflections
When it is too late, you will be very
WISE You will say to yourself, it may be,
ga man is fool who signs for any larger
sum than he can conveniently pay"
Amen, say l !!
"Before man puts his name down on
another mans paper, he should ask him.
self, Am willing to giUe this person as
much money as sign for?" Amen, sayI
" To sign bond on the supposition
that it is mere form, and that you will
have nothing to pay,is to put ones head
into FOOLS moose. !" Amen again say I!
There is no harm in signing for neigh
Dor if you have got the property; if you
are able to pay the amount without harming
your own household; and if you love the
man for whom you sign enough to be will
ing to GIVE him outright thesu covered
by your Endorsement. Otherwise, to go
surety for neighbor is folly, a sin and
a shame.
Hints to Life Voyagers.