The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-11-17

| You did q thousand wrong things In your
life: you ne elected thousand duties. De.
part, We cursed! Business is busine:s!'
There is al old book that says something
like this: "With what Judgment ye mete it
fhall be measured to you again" l would
rather take tho opportunity, the chance OF
Archibald Sloane in the judgment.
NV subject also impresses me with the fact
that business life is school for the obtaining
of very important knowledge. Business men
for the most part do not real books. The
business men Of America do not average one
book apiece year. Yet they are all intel
ligent if they have ucceeded-intelligen on
questions of finance and Jurisprudence and
geography and ethics and morals. They are
Compelled to intelligence bv the activities OF
business life. Often some Of thosa who have
large libraries know nothing about them.
Their libraries are established in tho same
way ms when in England library was to be
established and a Secretary wrote to book
seller: "Send my master six feet of theology
and about as much metaphysics and some
thing like yard Of old civil law" And yet,
though they as class do not read many
books. they are compelled by their style
of life to intelligence Misfortune is q
harsh schoolmiStresS, and when pupil
will not learn she strikes him with irreyoca-
ble loss. You put 5000 in business and it is
gone. You say ''these 5000 are all wasted" !"
|
ing but it is worth it. Traders in grains
are compelled to be intelligent in regard to
! foreign harvests. Traders in fruits
are compelled to be intelligent in
regard to the prospects of tropical
fruits. Manufacturers of American goods
are compelled to be intelligent in regard to
the tariff on importel articles. The question
that went to pre,eat to you this morning
is. have you applied your Intelligence in the
..k.- Wit
lands, are YOU MT interested in foreign mis-
sions! Understanding how in business there
is so much fraud and chicanory
! and double dealing are you advo-
eating the Gospel of Jesus Christ to eradi.
cate all wrong and irradiate all
darkness and correct all mistakes and up
lift all wretcheduess! Understanding as you
do all the intricacies Of business, do you un,
derstaud that there is something for the soul
which will last after all bills of exchange
and invoices and rent rolls shall have crum-
blcG I'D and be III consumed in the fires OF
Judgment day. Wise for time, are you
wise, my brother, for eternitYl "What
shall it profit man if he gain the whole
world and then lose his soul"
60 further and remark to you that busi-
ness life is school for integrity. 1trequires
more business grace n than it did in the
time when there were no stock gamblers and
men were men. There nver was time
when there were so many temptations to
s,oundrelism as there are t'-day. There
are so many men doing business on wrong
scale in all departments that II a
man starts cut and stakes straight path for
himself it is calle1 verdancy, it is as
cribed to lack of tact, business tact. You
know better than do how true all this is,
and how you the Christian man, trying to
live faithful to God AMI do justice to your
soul and tho souls of Others, you know how
many obstacles you have to run against. In
the city Of New York a young man
was selling goods, and after hs had
sold a silk dress to a lady he
said: Madame, I feel bound to tell you
that there is a fracture in that silk" why"
she said, then I don't want it." She de-
parted without the goods. The head man
of the firm came AMI said: "What was that
customer wantingF WELL" tho other re-
plied ''she bought this dress, but felt bound
to tell her there was fracture in the silk,
so she went off without it," The
business man then went into his
counting room and wrote letter to the
young mans father in the country: Come to
town quickly and take your boy" The old
farmer came down to the city in great agita-
tion, wondering what his boy had been
doing, and he went into the store, and the
head man of the firm recited all the circum-
stances and said: "Your son will
never make a merchant" Tn, old farmer
said: SIS that oil! Is that all my
boy has been doing. pointing out the imper-
proud of John aad am prouder now than
ever. John get your hat and come home"
And tell young mon it is always safe to do
right and it is never safe to do wrong. God
will never let a young man like that suffer.
Oh, how hard sometimes it is to take the
straight path when so many are divergent.
And yet there are those I believe they
are in the ma .:ority. believe there is
higher style Of commercial ethics than ever
before, and believe they are in the ma
jority, the men who can say: II never mis-
state the value of goods, I never covered up
the imperfection in fabric. In all Of my
money there is not dishone farthing. God
help me-" If you do not know such men I
am sorry for your acquaiptances. l know
many such. They are as honest as thu day
they sold their fist yard OF cloth, or
the way through. The school OF life has de-
veloped them. They can say their prayers
without being haunted by the chink of dis
honest dollars. They can read their bible
without thinking of the time when with lie
on their soul they kissed the book in the Gus
tom House. They can think of death with
out having their teeth chatter at the thought
of a judglnentlwhere defrauders and jockeys
and tricEsters and charlatans shall be doubly
damned. They car read without 1inching:
"As partridge setteth on eggs and hatcheth
them not, so riches get by fraud, man shall
leave them in the midst of his days, and at
the end he shall be fool.' Are you being
developed upward by the school Of
business life, or are you being
developed downward; was reading
yesterday in an old book Of scene that 90
CURED in New York City. Mr.. v was
in group Of gentlemen. and he said: II
short time in business but 1 don't know
where shall get the 5000" There was
Georgia planter standing & BY y%od and he Wdd s1id
security, can you give for It'll" "Well," he
said. 'the word Of an honest man"
"Ill take that as security" said
the Gsorga planter ant r;s So ne ~ gave ave
the Georgia planter was in business trouble.
His fortunes had failed and he must raise
$4,000, and he said to himself: Nov, will
20 to that man in Nsw York whom helped
and think he will help me-" He came to
New York. He told the man his perpleH-
ity. He said: 81 loaned you $5.ON
and now wish you would loan
"what security will you give mel" He re.
plleu. ue WOruOl dn uOu'SI iuali. l Cau
let you have it Oh that ground" He did not
let him have it, Business life, how it de-
velops some men up and how it develops
others down. What vast mutitudes are
ground to powder. when God intended all
tue hardships, all the annoyauces, all thu
ve1ations and all the activities an oppor-
tunity for developing the soul for usefulness
and for Heaven.
Now, if these things be 50, it seems to me
that we ought to enlarge our sy.npathiss to-
ward business men. 1t is a shame that in our