Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-01-23
THE LOVE OF MONEY.

etn merry, Dut money aIlsWereLl I'LL IuiuSs.-
| EoCLEsIAsTES Y: 10.
In the time of Solomon wealth seems to
have been as omnipotent as it is to-day.
The acquisition of riches was the aim of
the high and the low born. Full Golfers
at that age were the open sesame to the
road of social and political preferment;
without them one might as well have
been born slave. In all days the scram
BILE for money has subordinated all other
desires, and men have committed all the
crimes IN the decalogue in order that they
might win it. Friendships have been
broken, family ties dissolved, theft, rob-
berry and murder committed in the hope
and expectation of reward in the shape
of securing money and property. And
so it is to-day. The same rush for sud-
den wealth is demoralizing society, i'm
pairing the confidence of business men in
their associates, bringing disgrace
upon our civilization and our
religion, and destroying respect for hon
esty and industry among all classes. The
man who is the shreWdest in business
transactions, and can with the greatest
certainty get the advantage of his neigh
Dor, by hook or by crook, is the most
highly respected by the world at large,
and finds every door open and every hand
extended to give him hearty welcome.
| The wise man assures US that the love
| of money is the root of all evil. The
proverb is read and repeated from the
pulpit week after week, but it falls upon
deaf ears Even the clergyman who has
spoken so earnestly of the evils flowing
from worship Of the golden calf, folds
up his tent like the Arab and silently
steals away at the first offer of an in
crease of his salary in some new field.
The good of souls is a secondary consider
alton when weighed in the balance
against a large salary 1t is true
he tries to convince himself
and his congregation that he has "call''
to wider field of usefulness, and always
considers the matter "prayerfully." Yet
it is singular fact that there is not an
| instance on record in which a clergyman
has accepted call from heaven to preach
the gospel at lower salary than he has
been receiving, no matter how great the
need of his services may be. Heaven on
ly calls its servants from place to place
| when salaries are on the rise.
The disreputable means by which many
| church members endeavor to increase
their worldly possessions have long been
a reproach to the church and to religion
In our own city professed Christians do
not hesitate to rent their houses for i'm
moral purposes, and in other large cities
the same state of facts exists. These pass
unrebuked, and the church gladly accepts
q portion of the wages of sin for the
support of the organization Or
to assist in the spreading Of
the gospel among the heather. The
usurers who are protesting Chris
tians, are among the most heartless
of their class-veritable Shylocks who
insist upon their bond to the utteImost
farthing. They have no hesitancy in
| turning poor widow and her fatherless
children into the street for being in ar
rears for rent. They do not scruple to
take from the poor their homes and their
spare furniture for default of the princi-
pal or interest of small debt. They at
tend the services Of the church and sing
and pray with great JUNCTION while their
souls are blackened with offenses against
| common humanity that would make the
angels weep, and yet are pointed to as
models of Christian propriety. Some of
them even abscond with money that be-
longs to others, and by sending back a
| hypocritical letter of repentance preserve
their standing in the church, and
are looked upon as unfortunate,
prosecuted followers of Christ
Such things are shame to the
church, yet they are becoming wofully
common, and excite no remark in or out
of the church.
Ifthose who are sincerely DESTROYS of
propagating the gospel of pure and IN
defiled religion would render the attacks
of scoffers and unbelievers of no effect,
they must see to it that no cause for as
sault shall exist. AS long as they engage
with the ungenerate in the scramble for
this worlds goods, and are guilty of en-
| ploying disreputable means to attain
their end, just SO long will unbelief pre-
dominate in the world, religion be power
less and the church a by-word of re-
proach. Every tree is known by its fruits.
If protesting Christians defy morality
| with impunity, and shield their iniquities
under cover of long prayers and loud pro-
| LESSONS of superior virtue, they must ex-
pect to be condemned and derided, and it
| is just and proper that they should be so
regarded. But when their acts conform
to their Professionalism they live ir-
| reproachable lives before the world-they
will receive all the respect to which they
are entitled, and religion will be rever-
enced by even the most. depraved.
Money must cease to be mantle
| that covers all manner of uncleanness
from the scorn and loathing of the world,
and humble Christian life must be re-
garded as of greater value than the