Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-04-17
A BUSINESS LIFE.
A Practical Sermon by DR.. Tai
mage on It's Difficulties.
The Successful and Unsuccessful Mer-
chant Pointed Out and Their Char
acterS Deliberated Upon.
He TOuChIngly Refers to the Great Fire to
Come, the Light from Which Will
Guide the Righteous On.
Special to the Gazette.


Special to the Gazette.
BROOKLYN, April I3.-At the service
in the Academy of Music this morning
DR.. TaImage, after reading appropriate
passages of Scripture, gave out the hymn:
$50 let our lips and lives express
The holy Gospel we profess
He announced as his text Proverbs Xxx,
Il: ':It is naught, it is naught, saith
the buyer; but when he is gone his way,
then he boasteth." Following is his
sermon in full:
E Palaces are not such prisons as the
world imagines. If you think that the
only time kings and queens come forth
from the royal gates is in procession and
gorgeously attended, 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. In no other way
could King Solomon. the author of my
text, have known everything that was
going on. From my text l am sure
he must, in disguise, some day have
walked into a store of ready-made cloth
ing, in Jerusalem, and stood near the
counter and overheard a conversation
between a buyer and a seller. The
merchant put price on coat, and the
customer began to dicker and said:
'AbsuTdi that coat is not worth what
you ask for it. Whv, just look at the
coarseness of the fabric! See that spot
on the collar! Besides that it does not
fit. Twenty dollars for that? Why, it
ian t worth more than ten. They have
a better article than that, and for
cheaper price, down at Cloathem, Fitem
& Brothers. Besides that. don't want
it at any price. Good morning. -
''HoldI' says the merchant; "don It
go off in that way. I want to sell you
that coat. 1 have some payments to
make and
WANT THE MONEY.
Come, now, how much will you give for
that coat?'' 'sWen, - says the GUS
toner, CT Will split the difference. You
asked $50 and I said ten. Now, I will
give you fifteen "wen," says the
merchant, tits great sacrifice,
but take il at that price.
Then Solomon saw the customer
with 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 uurolled
the coat say: boys, have made a
great bargain. How much do you guess
l gave for that coat?' ''Well, -
says one, wishing to compliment his
enterprise, ''you gave $50 for it. -
Another says, 81 should think you got
it cheap if you gave $25. - mo, says
the buyer in triumph, 81 got it for SIS.
/ beat him down and pointed out the
imperfectiOns until L really made him
believe it was not worth hardly any
thing. It takes me to make a bargain,
Ia! Ha!' Oh man, you got the goods
for less than they were worth by posi-
tive faIsehood; aud 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 Il cTayon sketch of you: alt is
naught, it is naught, saith the buyer,
but when he is gone his way, then he
boasteth. -
There are no higher styles of men in
all the world than those now at the head
of merchandise 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
in the family of Cardinal Colonna, and
when there was great disturbance IN the
family the cardinal called all his people
together and put them under oath to tell
the truth, except PetrarCh, for when he
came up TO swear the cardinal put away
his book and said, GAS to you, Pc
trarch, 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
be hOnored because they have withstood,
year after year, temptations which have
flung many so fat, 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 peculiar
temptations of business men.
First, as IN the scene of the text,
business men are often tempted to sacri-
flee plain truth, the seller by exaggerat-
ing the value of goods, and the buyer by
depreciating them. We cannot but adj
mire an expert salesman. See how he
first induces the customer into a mood
favorable to the proper consideration of
the value of the goods. He shows him
self to be au honest and frank salesman.
How carefully the lights are arranged
till they fall just right upon the fabric!
Beginning with goods of medium quality,
ne gradually advances toward those of
more thorough make. and Of more
attractive pattern. How he watches
the moods and whims of his Gus
toner! With what perfect calmness
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 price 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 price which win 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 ubiquitous stratagems by
which goods are sometimes disposed of.
A glance at the morning papers shows
the arrival at one OF our hotels of a
young merchant from one of the inland
cities. He is q comparative stranger in
the great city and, of course, he must