The Brookhaven leader., 1889-03-21


against this sin.
''Fien said Cardinal Beaufort, ''fie
can't death be hired! is money nothing?
must die, and so rich? IL the Ownl1tg on
the whole realm would save me, could
get it by policy or by purchase-by
money" No, death would not be hired
then; he will not be hired now. Men Of
the world often regret that they have to
leave their money here when they go
away from the world. You can tell from
what they say in their last hours that one
Of their chief sorrows is that they have to
leave their money. break that delusion.
| tell that bribe -taker that he will take
hts money with him. God will wrap
il 5P 10 your shroud, or put it
in the pdfrH cf your hand in resur-
rection, and there u will lie, not the
cool, bright, shining gold as II was on the
day when you sold your vote arid your
moral principle but there it will lie, hot
metal, burning and consuming your hand
forever. Or, II there be enough of it for
a cbsiu, then it will fall from the wrist
clanking the fetters of nj eternal
captivity. The bribe is an everlasting
possession. You take II for time, you
take it for eternity. Some dag IN the next
world, when you are longing for gym
pathy, You will feel on your cheek kiss.
booking up you will find it to be Judas,
who t6sk thirty pieces of silver as bribe
and finished tbe Fsargaiu by putting an in
famous kiss on the pure cheek OF his
divine NJ aster.
There is not city that has not suffered
from the abuse of trust funds. Where IS
the courthouse, or the City Hall, or The
Jail. or the post office, or the hospi al,
that in the building Of it has not had a
political jobf
Long before the new courthouse in New
York City was completed, 1t cost over
twelve milton dollars. Five millions six
hundred and sixty three thousand dollars
for furniture! For plasteridg and repairs,
two million three hundred and seventy
thousand dollars. For plumbing aud gar
works, Crs million two hundred and thlr-
ty-one thousand eight hundred and seven
teen dollars. For awnings, twenty-three
Thousand five hundred and fffty-three
dollars, The bills for three months com
ing to the nire little sum of thirteen mill
ion one hundred and Gfty-0De thousand
one hundred and ninety -ei8hk dollars and
thirty nine cents. There was not an h0n-
est brick, or stone, or lath, or nail, or foot
OF plumbing or inch Of plastcrin@, or ink
5tard. or door knob in the whole estab-
lishment
That bad example was followed in many
of the cities, which did tot steal quite SO
much because there was not 20 nuch to
steal. There ought to be a closer lusPdc-
tion,a and there ought to be less opportunl-
| ty for embezzlement. Lest man shall
take fve.GG piece that does not belong
to him, the conductor on the city horse
car must sound his bell at every payment,
and we are very cautious about small Of
lenses, but give plenty of opportunity f0T
sinners on large scale to escape. For
boy who steals Loaf of bread from a COR
ner grocer to keep his mother from starv-
ing to death, prison; but for defrauders
| who abscond with five hundred thousand
dollars, castle on the Rhine or, waiting
until the Offense is forgotten, then castle
| on the Hudson.
- Another remark needs to be made, and
that is that people ought not to go into
places, into business, or into positions
where the temptation is mightier than
their character. If there be large sums
of money to be handled and the man is
not sure of his own integrity you have
no right to run an unseawOrthy craft into
an eurOclydon. A man can tell by the
sense of weakness or strength in the
presence of a bad opportunity whether he
is in safe place. How many parents
make an awful mistake when they put
their boys in banking houses and stores
and shops and factories and places of
solemn trusts, without once discussing
whether they can endure the temptation.
You give the boy plenty Of money and
have no account of it. and make the way
do nd " IT
upon him a pressure that he can not
stand. There are men who go into posi-
tions full of temptation, considering only
the one fact that they are lucrative posi-
tions. say to tn young people here this
morning, dishonesty will not pay in this
world or the world to come.
An abbot wanted to buy a piece of
ground and the owner would not sell it,
but the owner finally consented to let it
to him until he could raise one crop, aud
the abbot sowed acorns, a crop of two
hundred years! And | tell you, young
man, that the dishOnesties which you plant
in your heart and life will seem to be very
insignificant, but they will grow up until
they will overshadOw you with horrible
darkness, overshadow all time and all
eternity. 1t will not be a crop for two
hundred years, but crop for everlasting
ages.
l stand this morning before many who
have trust funds. 1t is a compliment to
you that you have been so intrusted, but
charge you, in the presence Of God and
the world, be careful: be as careful of the
property of others as you are careful OF
your own. Above all, keep your own
private account at the bank separate from
account as trustee of an estate or trustee
of an institution. This is the point at
which thousands of people make ship
wreck. They get the property OF others
mixed up with their own property, they
put it into investment, and away it all
goes, and they can not return that
which they borrowed. Then comes the
explosion, and the money market is
shaken, and the press deuounces and the
Church thunders expulsion. You have no
right to use the property of others except
for their advantage, nor without consent,
unless they are minors. If with their con-
sent you invest their property as well as
you can, and it is all lost, you are not to
blame; you did the best you could; but do
not come into the delusion which has
ruined so many men, of thinking because
thing is III their possession, therefore it
is theirs. You have solemn trust that
God has given you. In this vast assem-
blage there may be some who have mis-
appropriated trust funds. Put them
back, or, if you have so hopelessly in
volved them that you can not put
them hack, confess the whole thing
to those whom you have wronged, and
you will sleep better nights, and you will
have the better chance for your soul.