Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1890-04-25

w as II ali acCldenLaI Ll2L the merchant, 20
escape splash from a horses loot, stepped
into the insurance office No il was provi-
Dental. And what mighty solace for bust
ness mar 10 feel that things are providential.
What peace and equilibrium in such con-
sideratiOn, aud what grand thing II all bust
ness men could realize it!
Many, although now comparatively strait
ened worldly circumstances, have gOOdly
establishment In the future planned ous-
They have in ina 2 nation built about twenty
years ahead a house In the country not dlEI-
cult of access from the great town, for they
will often have business, or old accounts 10
settle, and investments TO look after. The
house Is large enough TO accommodate all
their friends. The halls are wide, and hung
with pictures of hunting scenes and branch
of antlers, and are comfortable with chairs
that can be rolled out on the veranda when
the weather is inviting, or set out under
some of the oaks that stand sentinel about
the house. and rustling in the cool breeze,
and sOngful with the robins.
There is just land enough TO keep them IN
terested and its crops of almost fabulous
richness springing up under application OF
the best theories to be found in the agricul-
turaI Journals. The farm is well stocked with
cattle and horses, and sheep that know the
voice and have a kindly bleat when one goes
forth to look at them. In this bhssful abode
their children will be instructed in art and
science and religion. This shall be the old
homestead to which the boys at college viii
direct their letters, and the hill on which the
house stands will be called lakewood or Ivy
Hill or Pleasant Retreat or Eagle Eyrie. May
the future have for every business man here
all that and more besides! But Ore you post
poning your happiness TO that time2 Are
you adjourning your joys to that consumma-
ton?
Suppose that you achieve all you expect
and the vision [ mention is not up TO the
reality, because the fountains will be brighter,
the house grander and the scenery more pic
m is fatal
What charm will there be in rural quiet for
a man who has thirty or forty years been
conforming his entire nature TO the exclt-
ments of business? Will f1ocks and herds
with their bleat and moan be able to silence
the Unsuitable spirit of acquisitiveneSS which
has for years had full swing in the soul? Will
the hum Of the breeze SOOthe the man who
now can find his only enjoyment in the stock
market? Will leaf and cloud and fountain
charm the eye that has for three-tOurthS OF
a lifetime found its chief beauty in hOgsheads
and bills of sale? VIII parents be competent
to rear their children for high and holy pur-
pose if their infancy and boyhood and girl
hood were neglected, when they are almost
ready to enter upon the world and nave all
their habits fixed and their principles stereo-
typed? No no; now is the time to be happy.
Now is the time to serve your Creator. Now
is the time to be Christian. Are you too
busy? I have known men as busy as you are
whe had place in the store loft where they
sailor where he found any place to pray in
He said II can always find quiet place at
masthead" And in the busiest day of the
season, if your heart is right, you can find a
place to pray. Broadway and Fulton street
are good places to pray in as you go to
meet your various engagements. 10
home a little earlier and get intro
duced to your children. Be not galley
slave by day and night, dashed fast to the oar
Of business. Let every day have its hour for
ID ;,,%o1
ton. Show yourself greater than your bust
ness. Act not as though after death you
would enter upon an eternity Of railroad
stocks and coffees and bonbons. Roast not
your manhoOds before the perpetual fires of
anxiety. With every yard of cloth you sell
throw not in your soul to boot. Use firkin
and counting room desk and hardware crate
as the step to glorious usefulness and highest
Christian character. Decide once and for
ever who shall be master in your store, YOU
or your business.
Again, business men are often tempted to
:et their calling interfere with the interests
Of the soul. God sends men into the business
world to get educated, just as boys are sent
to school and college. Purchase and sale, loss
and gain, disappointment and raSplng, pros
perity, the dishonesty of others, panic and
bank suspension are but different lessons i'll
the school. The more business the more
means of grace. Many have gone through
widest panic unhurt. Are you not afraid
in time of great commercial excitement. He
replied: AYE, shall break when the tiftieth
Psalm breaks in the fifteenth verse: Call
upon me in the day of trouble and l will de-
liver thee a"
The store and the counting house have de-
velOped some of the most stalwart charac-
ters Perhaps originally they had but little
and force, but two or three
hard business thumpS woke them up from
their lethargy, and there came thorough de-
veiOpment In their hearts of all that was good !
and holy and energetic and tremendous, and |
they have become the front men in Christs !
great army, as we'll as lighthouses in the |
great world of traffic. But business has been !!
perpetual depletion to many man. 1t first |
pulled out of him all benevOlence next all |
next all religious aspiration, next !
all conscience, and though he entered his vo- !
cation with large heart and noble character |
he goes out OF it a skeleton, enough to scare a |
ghost.
Men appreciate the importan ce Of having |
a good business stand, a store on the right |
side OF the street or the right block. Now, !
every place of business is a good stand for |
spiritual culture Gods angels hover over
the world OF traffic TO sustain and build up |
those who are trying to do their duty. To |
morrow, If in your place of worldly engag- |
ment you will listen for it, you may hear .
sound louder than the rattle of drays and the |
shuttle OF feet and the clink of dollars steal
ing into your soul, saying Seek We first the |
kingdom of God and His Righteousness and |
all other things shall be added unto you"
Yet some of those sharpest at the bargain
are cheated out of their immortal blessedness
by Stratagems moe pal pabe than any drop |
game of the street They make invest |
mentS in things everlastingly below par.
They put their valuableS in safe not fire !
proof. They give full credit to influences
that will not be able to pay one cent on a
dollar. They plunge into a labyrinth from