Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1877-07-02
NOT A GENTLEMAN.

There ought to be a sentiment which
men call "honor" in regard to these
things. Clean hands in matters of
money among the young certainly ought
to be the indispensable condition of gent
lemanliness. No man who borrows and
does not pay, and does not care whether
he pays or not. is gentleman, no mat
ter how witty, or gay, or fine he may be.
To speak in good plain English, the man
who dresses himself at another's expense,
not knowing how to pay, nor caring
whether he pays or not, is a genteel
scoundrell And yet, such things are
done by goOd-natured folks, by very
kind-hearted people, by persons who
never probe them morally to ascertain
what their tendency is, and what they
lead to; and if their father and mother
are dead, or absent, or if they are sur
rounded only by those who are as green
and callow as themselves, somebody
ought to tell them what fatal mistake
they are making, what dangers they are
running; and who should tell them if
not their minister?
Generally when men have done this
kind of wrong it is followed by long
train Of temptations to other wrongs.
In the first place, men often borrow
without certain competence to repay.
Provided they would deny themselves,
before the time of payment, from other
indulgences, and bestow that which they
thus saved to the settlement of their
debt, they might meet it, perhaps; but
the question is whether they will go on
being happy, and be dishonest. or wheth-
er they will stop their self-indulgence
for time and be honest, and then go on
enjoying themselves again; and very
generally men adopt the latter course,
and defer payment.
This is very cruel thing when it is
practiced under certain circumstances
as, for instance, where a poor man works
the week through, and on Saturday wants
his wages In order that he may make
provision for his household on the Sab
bath. It is very cruel when the poor
seamstress, having, as it were, sewed her
very life into her work, returns it to
some niggardly employer, who turns her
off without paying her, saying that it is
not convenient for him to attend to it.
Hundreds and thousands of suffering
people are turned away groaning from
tho doors of those to whom they have
claim, and who are able to care for them.
Now, nobody is a gentleman or lady
who is Indifferent to the condition of the
poor. The poor are Gods children pre-
eminently. He that smites the poor
punets the MaSsAr in His face +; for He
said, 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto Me-" Many do
not pay their newspaper man promptly.
alt is not quite convenient, )" they say.
Many do not pay their grocer's bill when
it is presented, because 'it is not quite
convenient Many do not pay the sew
ing woman, or the man in the kitchen,
or the farm hand, when they ought to,
for sit is not convenient" They neg
lect these duties with impunity, because
they know that for these people there is
no appeal. that they are weak that
they cannot go to the courts for redress;
that there is no public sentiment which
protects them; that they can control
them. They are in their hands, and
they sacrifice them to their convenience.
There is great deal of suffering in life
on this account.-H. ". Beecher.
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