The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1869-09-01
ON GOING SURETY.

most frlentlly ACT. IL lt uuSHt'!
done. it may be of the most emil
nent benefit to a neiGhhor. 1t
gives him the henetit o. your go"'l
reputation when he is not KNOWN.
Ii lends him your tr,dit Where
his own is not sufficient. 1T puts
him in funds which otherwise he
he could not command. Such ser
vice To Il friend is generous, and
sometimes even noble. No better
use can be made of ones money
than to help a true trieAd. We
are commanded 10 'rempmhrr
those in bonds, ;,s bound with them.
To be sure, this was originally
applied to bonds ofa different kind,
! but with not Il whit mora proprle.
tv than to pecuniary bonds. A
man who. by 4 few thousand dol
lars. can save his friend, and per
haps his family. from bankruptcy
and want. could hardly spend his
money in y manner which all his
lite long, he would remember with
moe satiS@a ton.
But there are certain moral and
prudential considerations which
should always he borne in mind
in going surety for a friend. Yon
should make up your mind ho~
mmh property uou haze, and how
much you are aoill'ng to gire o'roy,
absolutely, for that friend whom
Won inlnrsr. For no blunder can
be worse than TO indorse on the
Snppo<i,ion that You Will not
have topay. Neverinlorse with
ont saying to yourself, This may
come round upon me. lmay have
to pay it and, ifit comes to that,
[ am able and willing" Nine ont
of ten OF the fatal mistakes made
hv bondSmen arise from taking
the opposite course to this. Ihey
consider the act Of indorSing Il
friends paper IA Il mere com
mercial form. "Thcre is no risk.
/ shall not have it to pay. lie Is
abundantly able to to take care OF
his paper. | ~hal! hell him without
harming myself, and he is Il stingy
man who will not do that
This is the calculation on which
a man binds himself to pay a
friends debts in case the friend
cannot pay them himself. Gul
how do these things turn out
One need not 20 far to ascertain!
Every village has an illustration.
The borrower was more involved
than you supposed, or, perhaps,
than he himself knew and his
creditors closed on him and
wound him up, and were over.
| loved to find such Il good name rs
yours on his paper. Or the san.
rhine scheme on which hc had
ventured. which seemed snre OF
success, almost without possibility
of failure, suddenly. like u loaded
wagon, slipped off Il wheel and up
set into the dirt
Or. Just as every thing was at
the point of success, your friend
sickened and could not look after
his affairs. some critical matter
was neglected, or some dishonest
person stepped in and crooked
matters; your friend died, the es
tate went into executors hands
for settlement. Nas hadl ~ managed
warped and crooked, and finally
turned out inSolvcnt.
And what became fyon? Why
vou were surety for the full amount
of what you are worth! In an
hour You find yourself confronted
with Il debt that sweeps away
vour house. your farm. your little
sum in bank. and where you be-
gan twenty-five years ago, with
this difference, that then you
hal only yourself to provId!
for, now YOU have i wife and
eight children. Then You were
twenty-five years old and life
was al! hciorc you. and now
vou are fifty years old, and
Tie pretty much all behind You
You have given away your cnlld
ren'S bread. You have not saved
v,ur friend. but y'u have ruined
ronrSelf! Perhaps your friend
had settled on his wife asmall prop
er:v. So much The better tor hrr
if he had. OF course she will dl'
vide with YOU. since it was to save
her husband, that You were
ruined. Blt. ifShe VIII n"t, (and hu
man nature is made up o: shak.H
stuff and her children Goto school
while yours stay at home; and II
they live in a comfortable house
pleasantly furnished, while you
are hiring few rooms in the
cheapest quarter of the town, then
| suspect that vou will chew the
end of a great many bitter re-
flections. When it is too late, You
Won will be very Wise. You will
say to yourself, it may be, ~