The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-11-17
Merchants Who Are Recruiting
Officers for the Devil,
Who Steal Luster From the Eye and
-t HOuOr From the Soul.
Sermon Preached in Brooklyn Tabernacle
on Sunday, November 6, 1881, by
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage.
CLERKS.
The Many Troubles They Have
to Endure.

to Endure.
TEXT: Acts xvi, Ia "And a certain
woman named Lydia, seller of purple
OF the city of Thyatira, who wOrshiped
God, heard us; whose heart the Lord
opened" Prov. xxi, 80: "Seest thou a
man diligent in his business? He shall
stand before Kings"
The first passage introduces to you
Lydia, a Christian meTchantess. Her
business is to deal i'll purple cloths or
silks. She is not glggllng nOnentity,
but practical woman, not ashamed to
work for her living. All the other
women of Philippi and Thyatira have
been forgotten; but God has made inn
mortal in our text Lydia, the Christian
saIeswOman. The other text shows you
a man with head and hand and heart
and foot all busy tOiling on, up, until
he gains princely success. "Seest thou
man diligent in his business?
he shall stand before Kings" Great en-
cOuragement in these two passages for
men and women who will be busy, but
no sOlace for those who are waiting for
good luck to show them, at the foot of
the rainbow, a casket of buried gold. 1t
is folly for any body i'll this world to
wait for something to turn up. 1t will
turn down. The law of thrift is as in
eXOrable as the law of the tides. For
tune, the magician, may wave her wand
in that direction until castles and pal
AceS come, but she will after while in
vert the same wand, and all the splen-
dOTs will vanish into thin air. There
are certain styles of behavior which lead
TO usefulness, honor and permanent
success, and there are certain styles of
behavior which lead to dust, dishOnOr
and moral default. | would like to
fire the ambition of young people.
1 have no sympathy with those
who would prepare young folks
for life by whiting down their eXpecta-
lions. That man or woman will be
worth nothing to Church or State who
begins life cOwed down. The business
of Christianity is not to quench, but to
direct human ambition. Therefore it
is that l come out this evening and ut
ter words of encouragement to those
who are occupied as clerks in the stores
and shops and banking-hOuses of the
country. You say: "Why select one
class and talk to one specially this
evening" For the same reason that
surgeon does not open the door of hos
pital and throw in a bushel of prescrip-
-tiOns, saying: "COme now, and get your
medicines" He first feels the pulse,
watches the symptoms, and then pre-
scTibes for that particular case. So, to-
night, must be specific. The people in
this audience who are clerks are not
dn tACeDIlOldl GLASS; luty DtlOuR W
great company of tens of thousands
who are in this country amid circum-
stances which will either make or break
them for time and for eternity. | should
be very slow to acknowledge that the
clerks, male or female, of other cities
are more honest or faithful than the
clerks of our own city. Many of these
people have already achieved a Christian
manliness and Christian WOmanlinesS
w hieb will bn fhplT naGgnOrt tn
sitiOn. 1 have seen their trials. have
watched their perplexitles. There evils
abroad which need ID be hunted down
and dragged out into the MONDAY light.
In the first place, | counsel clerks to
remember that for the most part their
clerkship is only a school from which
they are to be graduated. 1t takes al
most eight years to get one of the learn
ed professions 1t takes about eight
years to get to be merchant. Some of
you will be clerks all your lives, but the
vast majority of you are only in tran
sient position. After while some De-
eembeT day the head men OF the firm
will call you into the back office and
they will say to you: Nov, yOu have
done we'll by u.s. we are going to do well
by you. We invite you to have an inter
est in our concern" You will bow to
that edict very gracefully. Getting into
a street ear to go home, an old cOmrade
will meet you and say: What makes
you look so happy tO-night| "Oh p
you will say, nothing, nothing"
But in a few days your name will bios
som on the sign. Either in the store
or bank where you are now, or some
other store or kank, you will take
higher position than that which you
now occupy. So, feel tonight that [
am standing before people who will yet
have their hand on the helm of the
worlds commerce, and you will turn it
this way OF that; now clerks. but to be
bankers, importers, insurance company
directors, shippers, contractors, superin-
tendentS of raiirOadS-yOur voice mighty
on Misunderstanding foremost in the
great financial and religious enterprises
of the day. For though we who are in
the professions may on the platform
plead for the philanthrOpies, after all,
the merchants must come forth with
their millions to sustain the movement.
Be therefore patient and diligent in this
transient position. You are now where
you can learn things you can never
learn in any other place. What you
consider your disadvantages are your
grand opportunity. You see an
affluent father some day come down on
a prominent street with his son who
has Just graduated from the Uni
versity, and establishing him in busi
ness, putting $250,OO0 Of capital in the
store. Well, you are enviOus. You say,
"Oh. if | only had a chance like that
young manEif only had a father to
put $4,000 In a business for me, then |
would have some chance in the world"
Be not enviOus. You have advantages
over that young man which he has not
over you. As well might | come down
to the docks when a vessel is about to
sail for Valparaiso, and say: Let me
pilot this ship out Of the Narrows."
Why, would sink crew and cargo be-
fore 1 got out of the harbOr simply be-
cause / know nothing about pilOtage.
Wealthy sea captains put their sons be-
fore the mast for the reason that they
know that it is the only place where
they can learn to be successful sailors.
1t is only under drill that people get to