Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-11-13


their first firkin of butter. There were
times when they could have robbed f;
partner, when they could have ab
seconded with the funds of "A bank, wher
they could have sprung a snap judg,
ment, when they could have borrowed
illimltably, when they could have made
"A false assignment, when they could
have ruined II neighbor for the purpos,
OF picking up some Of the fragments.
but they never took one step on
that pathway of hell fire. Now they
"A pray without being haunted with
the chink of dishonest gold. Now
they a read the Bible without think
ing of the day when, with a lie on
their soul, they kissed the book in a
custom house. Now they can look
into the laughing faces of their chill
dren without thinking of orphans left
by them penniless and houseless. Now
they can think of death without hav-
ing their knees knock together, and
their heart sink, and their teeth chat
ter, because there is IA Judgment where
all de~frauders, and jockeys, and trick
sters, and charlatans shall be doubly
damned. Now they can read in the
Bible without ~flinching: '.As the part
ridge stitch on eggs and hatcheth
them not SO; he that getteth riches,
and not by right, shall leave them in
the midst of his days, and at the end
shall be IA fool" Alas. if any Of you,
for the purpose of getting out of tenn
porary embarrassment, dare to sell
your soul, or any portion of it, you
may wake up in the midst of embar-
rassment and say: mo one is looking.
This transaction may be a little out of
the way, but it is only once, only
once On that one occasion YOU not
only wreck your spiritual nature but
you despoil your business prospects.
You put one dishonest dollar in an es-
tate, but it will not stand. You may
take a dishonest dollar and put 1T
down in the very depths of the earth,
and YOU may roll on the top of it rocks
and mountains. and on the top of those
rocks and mountains you may put all
the banks and moneyed institutions,
piIing them up heaven high; but that
one dishonest dollar down in the
depths of the earth will begin TO rock,
and heaye, and upturn itself until it
comes to the resurrection of damna-
ton.
YOU CANNOT HIDE A DISHONEST DOLLAR.
In the review of this subject there
are two or three things | want to
say, and the first is, let Us
have Il larger sympathy for business
men. ] think it is a shame that III our
pulpits we do not oftener preach on
this subject, and show that we appre-
ciate the sorrows, and struggles, and
temptations, and trials of everyday
life. Men who toll with the hand are
very apt to be suspicious of those who
move in the world of traffic, and think
that they get their money idly, and that
they give no equivalent. Men who
raise the corn, and wheat and rye. and
oats are very apt to think that grain
merchants get easy profits. The first
is very apt to be jealous of the brain.
Plato and Aristotle were so opposed to
all kinds of merchandise, that they said
CoillllcItt was llc tulSt VI llt tdIlll,
and they recommended that cities
should never be built any nearer the
~seacoaSt than ten miles. But we have
become wiser than that, and you know
that
THERE II NO HARDER WORKERS
than those who work in stores,
and banks, and counting houses. What
though their apparel be neat, what
though their be refined. do
not put them down as idlers. They
carry loads heavier than Il hod OF
bricks, they 90 into exposures keener
than the cutting of the east wind, they
scale mountains higher than the Alps
ana Himalayas, and maintaining their
Christian integrity, Christ will ut last
accost them saying: 'Well done, thou
good and faithful servant; thou has,
been faithful over a few things, | will
make the ruler over many things; enter
thou into the JOY of thy Lord"
also c%njoin you to quit all fretful,
ness about business matters. Is there
not something in your own household
that you would not give up for the
worldly success other men have? Be
sides that, if these trials lifted YOU ur
you ought to bless God for the whip OF
discipline. The larger the note you
have to pay, the greater the uncer-
tainty of business life, the better for
your soul, if Jesus Christ leads
you triumphantly through. How do
know? | know it by this principle
that
THE HOTTER II FURNACE TIE BETTER
THE REFINING.
There have been thousands Of men
who have gone through the same path
you are now going through with an
aching heart. There are multitudes
before the throne of God who were
dashed with cares and anxieties innum-
cradle, and were cheated out of every
thing but their coffin. They were sued,
they were elected, they were imprison-
ed for debt, they were mistreated. they
were thrOttled by constables with whole
packs of writs, they were sold IL by
sheriffs, they had to confess judgments,
they had to compromise with creditors,
and their last hour on earth was dis
turbed by the fact that their doorbell
was rung loudly and angrily by the
hand of some impetuous creditor, who