The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1877-02-01
Lessons to Business Men.

DIR. Taylor, mt the Broadway Taber-
nacle, New York, made short expos;-
ton of the first seven verses of |.
Kings, fourth chapter, the basis for
promulgating aild illustrating II number
of lessons to business men and others
The passage is the well known account
of the increase of the poor widows oil,
by miracle through the prophet
Elisha. The woman's sons were about
to be taken into bondage by creditor,
and the oil was miraculously sent, that
its sale might supply funds for the iqui-
dation of the debt. DIR. Taylor said
A good man may sometimes be hope
lessly insolvent. Bankruptcy in bust
ness is not necessarily connected with
bankruptcy of character. We have no
sympathy with those who are too indo-
! lent to exert themselves adequately for
their own support, and who, in Thack-
| erays words, seem to be continually try
ing to solve the problem of "How to
live upon nothing u year" or such
hangers on, we would say, with Paul {:
I" If man will not work, neither shall
he eat" A man may become bankrupt
all of sudden, because be has not
taken care to look into his own affairs,
and has therefore calculated upon condi-
tions which did not exist III his own cir
cumstances. eve can vindicate such
a mans honesty only at the expense of
his intellect" But some men are made
bankrupt, from no fault of theirs, by
the sudden failure of once prolific
source of income: OF by "strikes" of
employees, after contracts have been
made; or an importer, who by his line
of business is doing the public a service,
may be ruined by sudden fall in
prices, or n man advanced in years may
invest his savings in q bank, which,
through the dishonesty of some officer,
becomes II quicksand to swallow them
up irretrievably. Such bank officer,
or trustee who has misapplied the funds
of ward, should have only one place to
go to, and that n prison. But the un-
fortunate invester, or the deceived ward,
should have place i'll the sympathies
and practical regard of well disposed
community. There are bankruptcies
and bankruptcies. But the most pain
ful and irreparable kind is bankruptcy of
character. There is no resurrection out
of the grave of character buried beneath
IL fallen fortune.
\ creditor should be considerate. The
law allows creditor to deserve the
name of Mr. Hardfst OF of "Shy-
lock- But the law is made for the law
less. DO not treat man as rogue,
because he happeus to be in yoilr
debt" Remember the golden rule of
the Master, for you may be in that mans
place before long. Do not either, as n
member of Il corporation, lose your in
dividual conscience, or let that corpora
ton be ga shield behind which you will
do thing which you would not dare to
do on Your own responsibility ~ Let
kindness be the rule toward the ,lnfor-
t,lnatc, and reserve the exception of
harslness for the criminal. God was
merciful to us when we had nothing
with which to pay Cur debts. We learn
the Importance of providing in some
way for those dependent upon us, so
that in the event of our being removed
from earth they may be less i'll of than
We're this widow aud these children.
duty for those who cannot save money
otherwise To insure their lives. But to
he of real service the insurance must he
reliable. So look before yoll insure
Let there be no delay 1t is no valid
objection against life insurance to say
that it shows Il want OF trust in God for
man thus to secure II comfortable iu-
ture for his children. "Tie up yollr
camel and then trust to Allah !" No
corruption is SO base as cheating
those who invest in life insurance.