The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1891-12-25

How many men do you suppose
there are In commercial life who could
say truthfully, In all the sales | have
ever made have never overstated the
value of goods; in all the sales have
ever made have never covered up an
imperfection in the fabric; of all the
thousands of dollars have ever made
have not taken one dishonest larth-
ingr There are men, however, who
can say it, hundreds who can say it,
thousands who can say ii, They are
more honest than when they sold their
first tierce of rice, or their first flrlSin of
butter, because their honesty and in
tegrity have been tested, tried, and
came out triumphant. But they re
member time when they could have
robbed partner, or have absconded
with the funds of bank, or sprung a
snap Judgment, or made false assign
ment, or borrowed illimitably without
any effort at payment, or got man
into a sharp corner and leeced him.
But they never took one step on that
pathway of hell fire They can say
their prayers without hearing the chink
of dishonest dollars. They can read
their Bible without thinking of the
time when, with lie on their soul, in
the custom house they kissed the
Book. They can think of death and
the judgment that comes after it with
out any tlinching-that day when all
charlatans and cheats and jockeys and
frauds shall be doubly damned. 1t
does not make their knees knock to-
gether, and 1t does not make their
teeth chatter to read las the partridge
sitteth on eggs and hatcheth them not,
so he that getteth riches and not by
right shall leave them in the midst of
his days, and at his end shall be a
fool"
THE SLAVE IN ALGIERS.
Oh, what school of integrity bust
ness life isl If you have ever been
tempted to let your integrity cringe be-
fore present advantage, if you have
ever wakened up in some embarrass-
ment and said, "Now, I'll step a little
aside from the right path and no one
will know it, and I'll come all right
again; it is only once" Oh, that only
men for this life and blasted their souls
for eternity. 1t is a tremendous school,
business life, school of integrity. A
merchant in Liverpool got a five pound
Bank of England note, and holding it
up toward the light he saw some inter
lineations in what seemed red ink.
He finally deciphered the letters, and
found out that the writing chad been
made by slave in Algiers, saying in
substance, "Whoever gets this bank
note will please to inform my brother,
John Dean, living near Carlisle, that l
am slave of the hey of Algiers" The
merchant sent word, employed govern
ment officers and found who this man
was spoken of in this bank bill. After
awhile the man was rescued, who for
eleven years had been a slave of the
hey of Algiers He was Immediately
emancipated, but was so worn out by
hardship and exposure he soon after
died Oh, if some of the bank bills
that come through your hands could
tell all the scenes through which they
have passed, it would be a tragedy
eclipsing any drama of Shakespeare,
mightier than King Lear or Macbeth.
As l go ON in this subject l am i'm
pressed with the importance of our
having more sympathy with business
men. Is it not a shame that we in our
pulpits do not oftener preach about
their struggles, their trials and their
temptations2 Men who toll with the
hand are not apt to be very sympathetic
with those who toll with the brain.
Inc farmers who raise the corn, and
| the oats, and the wheat sometimes are
tempted to think that grain merchants
have an easy time and get their profits
without giving any equivalent.
! Plato and Aristotle were so opposed
to merchandise that they declared com
merce to be the curse of the nations, and
they advised that cities be built at least
! ten miles from the seacoast. But you
and know that there are no more in
dustrious or high minded men than
those who move in the world of traffic.
Some of them carry burdens heavier
than hods of brick, and are exposed to
sharper things than the east wind, and
climb mountains higher than the Alps
or Himalayas, and if they are faithful
Christ will at last say to them: "Wel
done, good and faithful servant thou
hast been faithful over a few things
Twill make thee ruler over many things
Enter thou into the JOY of thy Lord"
THE MART RS OF BUSINESS.
We talk about the martyrs of the
Piedmont valley, and the martyr
among the Scotch highlands and the
martyrs at Oxford. There are just a!
certainly martyrs of Wall street ane
State street. martyrs of Fulton stree
and Broadway, martyrs of Atlantic
street and Chestnut street, goin:
through hotter fires, or having thei
necks under sharper axes. Then it be
hooves us to Danish all fretfulness from
our lives if this subject be true. w
look back to the time when we were a
4 school, and we remember the rod ant
we remember the hard tasks and W
complained grievously, but now we Sc
it was for the best.
Business life is a school, and the task
are hard, and the chastisements some
times are very grievous; but do no
complain. The hotter the fire the bette
the refining. There are men before tn
throne of God this day in triumph VIII
on earth were cheated out of everythin
but their coffin. They were sued, the
were imprisoned for debt, they wer
throttled by constables with Who'll
pack of writs, they were sold out b
: the sheriffs, they had no comproInis
with their creditors, they had to max
> assignments. Their dying hours WEI
. annoyed by the sharp ringing of th
doorbell by some impetuous credite
r who thoupht IL was o,ltrapaons and in