Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-04-14
THE TABERNACLE PULPIT.
A PRACTICAL CERMoN BY Or. TAT
MAGE ON BUSINESS.

Sellers Are Too Apt to BE Slow to Learn.
Work without God Is Work Wasted.
BROOKLYN, April l8.--At the Service in the
Academy OF Music this morning DR.. Tai
mage, after reading appropriate passages OF
Scripture, gave out the hymn;
So let our lips and lives express
The holy Gospel we profess.
He announced as his text Proverbs xx9 IA
''Itis naught, it is naught, saith the buyer
but when he is gone his way, then he boast
eth" Following is his sermon in full;
Palaces are not such prisons as the world
imagines. II you think that the only time
kings and queens come forth from the royal
gates Is in procession and gorgeously attend
ed, you are mistaken. Incognito by day or
by night, and clothed in citizens apparel or
the dress Of working woman, they come
out and see the world as it is. IL no other
way could King Solomon, the author OF my
text, have known erything that was going
on From my text ! am sure he must, in
disguise, some day have walked into store
OF ready made clothing, In Jerusalem, and
stood near the counter and overheard a con.
versation between buyer and seller, The
merchant put price on the coat and the
customer began to decker and said; "Ab-
surdl that coat is not worth what you ask
for it. Why, just look at the coarseness of
the fabricl See that spot ON the colar Be
sides that, it dees not fit Twenty dollars for
thati Why. it isn't worth more than ten.
They have better article than that, and for
cheaper price, down at Cloathem, Fitem 81
Brothers Besides that, | don't want it at
any price. Good morning" "Hold,n says
the merchant; "don't go Off in that way.
want TO sell you that coat have some pay
ments to make and want the money. Come
now, how much will you give for that coat?"
swell" says the customer, 81 will split the
difference. You asked twenty dollars and
said ten. Now, | will give you fifteen
swell, !" says the merchant, cts great sac
rifice; but take it at that price" Then Solo
mon saw the customer with a roll under his
arm start and go out and enter his own
place of business; and Solomon, in disguise,
followed him. He heard the customer as he
unrolled the coat say: Boys, l have made a
great bargain. How much do you guess
gave for that coatg" "Well," says one, wish
ing to compliment his enterprise, "you gave
thirty dollars for itn Another says, 81
should think you got it cheap if you gave
twenty-five dollars emo says the buyer
in triumph 81 got it for fifteen dollars.
beat him down and pointed out the mperfec-
tions until really made him believe it was
not worth hardly anything, 1t takes me to
make bargain Hal Ha" Oh, man, you
got the goods for less than they were worth
by positive falsehood and no wonder when
Solomon went back to his palace and had
put off his disguise, that he sat down at his
writing desk and made for all ages a crayon
sketch of you: at is naught, it is naught,
saith the buyer: but when he is gone his
way, then he boastethn
There are no higher styles of men in all the
world than those now at the head Of mer-
chandise in Brooklyn and New York and in
the other great cities of this continent. Their
casual promise is as good AS a bond with piles
of collaterals Their reputation for integrity
is as well established as that of Petrarch re-
siding in the family of Cardinal Colonna,
and when there was great disturbance in the
family the cardinal called all his people to-
gether and put them under oath 30 tell the
truth, except Petrarch, for when he came TO
swear the cardinal put away his book and
said "As to you, Petrarch, your word is
sufficient
Never since the world stood have there
been so many merchants whose transactions
can stand the test of the Ten Commandments.
Such bargain makers are all the more to he
houored because they have withstood year
after year temptations which have flung
many so fiat and flung them so hard they can
never recover themselves While all positions
in life have powerful besetments to evil there
are specific forms Of allurement which are
peculiar to each occupation and profession,
and it will be useful to speak Of the peculiaP
temptations of business men
First, as in the scene of the text, business
men are often tempted to sacrifice plain
truth the seller by exaggeratmg the value of
goods, and the buyer 10y depreciating them,
We cannot but admire an expert salesman.
See how he first induces the customer into IA
mood favorable to the proper consideration
of the value Of the goods. He shows himself
to be an honest and frank salesman. How
carefully the lights are arranged till they
fall just right upon the fabricl
Beginning with goods of medium quality,
he gradually advances toward those of more
thorough make and of more attractive pat
tern How he watches the moods and whims
of his customer With what perfect calm
ness he takes the order and bows the pur-
chaser from his presence, who goes away
having made up his mind that he has bought
the goods at a pricG which will allow him a
living margin when he again sells them. The
goods were worth what the salesman said
they were and were sold at "A price which
will not make it necessary for the house to
fail every ten years in order to fix up things,
But with what burning indignation we
think of the inquitous stratagems by which
goods are sometimes disposed of. A glance
Mt the morning papers shows the arrival Mt
one Of our hotels of n young merchant from
ono of the inland cities. He is IA comparative
stranger in the great city, and, of course, he
must be shown around, and il will be the duty
of some of our enterprising houses to escort
him. He is a large purchaser and has plenty
of time aad money, and II will pay to be very
attentive The evening is spent at place of
doubtful amusement, Then they go back to
the hotel Having just come to town, they
must, of course, drink. A friend from the
same mercantile establishment drops in, and
usage and generosity suggest that they must
drink. Business prospects are talked over,
and the stranger is warned against certain
tilapidated mercantile establishments that
are about to fail, and for such kindness and
magnanimity of caution against the dlshon
.esty Of other business houses, of course, it is
expected they willard 50 they do-they take
IA drink
Other merchants lodging lad joining rooms
find IL hard TO sleep for the rlatter of decaut-
-ers, and the coarse carousal OF these HAL
fellows well met wakes louder. But they sit
not all night at the wine cup, They must see
the sights They stagger forth with cheeks
flushed and eyes bloodshot The outer gates
OF he'll open to let in the victims The wings
of lost souls fiit among the lights, aud the
steps of the carouserS sound with the rumbling
thunders of the damned. Farewell to all the
sanctities of homol Could mother, sister,
f,,t.,,. ,-i,r,l.,.;,,,r L., tba inland h,r,, in