The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-12-23

confidence, but placed in certain crises
Of temptation they went overheard.
Never so many temptations to scoun-
drelism as now. Not law on the
statute book but has some back door
through which miscreant can escape.
Ahi how many deceptions. In the fabric
Of goods: so much plundering In COM
mercial life that II man talk about
living g life Of complete cofnmercial ae-
curacy there are those who ascribc II
to greenness and lack Of tact More
need of honesty now than ever before,
tried honesty. complete honesty, more
than in those times when business was
q plain affair and woolens we're wool
ems and sillfs were silks and men were
men.
How many men do you suppose there
are in commercial life who could say
truthfully, 'Tn all the sales have ever
made have never overstated the value
Of goods; In all the sales Ihave ever
made l have nevor covered up an inn
perfection in the fabric; of all the thou
sands of dollar have ever made have
not taken one dishonest farthing?"
There are men, however, who can say
II, hundreds who can say II, thousands
who can say It They are more honest
than when they sold their first tierce OF
rice, or their first Arkin of butter, be-
cause their honesty and integrity have
been tested, tried, and come out tri-
umphant But they remember time
when they could have robbed partner,
or have absconded with the funds OF a
bank, or sprung q snap Judgment or
made false assignment, or borrowed
unlimitably without any efforts at pay
ment, or got n man into sharp corner
and fieeced him. But they never took
one step on that pathway of hell fire.
They can say their prayers without
hearing the chinls of dishonest dollars.
They can read the Bible without think
ing of the time when without lie on
their soul in the custom-house they
kissed the Book. They can think OF
death and the judgment that comes
after it without any finching-that day
when all charlatans and cheats and
jockeys and frauds shall be doubly
damned. 1t does not make their knees
knock together, and it does not make
their teeth chatter to read: "As
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 fool"
o, what school Of integrity business
life isl II you have ever been tempted
to let your integrity cringe before pres
ent advantage, II You have ever wax
ened up in some embarrassment, and
said, "Now, I'll step little aside from
the right path and no one will know II,
and I'll come all right again; it is only
once" o, that only once has ruined
tens of thousands Of men for this life
and blasted their souls for eternity. II
is a tremendous school, business life, q
school Of integrity. A merchant in Liv
erpool got a hve-pound Bank of En-
gland note, and holding II up toward
the light he saw some interlineations IL
what seemed red ink. He finally de
ciphered the letters, and found out tina
the writing had been made by slav,
in Algiers, saying in substance; ''Who
ever gets this banl-note will please Z,
inform my brother, John Dean, Living
near Carlisle, that am slave OF tn,
Bey of Algiers" The merchant sen
word, employed government officers
and found who this man was spoken o
in this bank bill After awhile the maj
was rescued, who for eleven years hat
been slave Of the Bey of Algiers II,
was Immediately emaneipated. but wa:
so worn out by hardship and exposur'
he soon after died. o, II some o
the bank bills that come through
your hands could tell all the scene
through which they have passed,
would be tragedy eclipsiDg any drami
of Shakespeare, nightier than KIM
Lear or Macbeth
As go on in this subject ! am i'm
pressed with the importance Of our hav
ing more sympathy with business men
; Is IL not shame that we In our pulpit
do not oftener preach about their strug
giles, their trials and their temptations
Men who toll with the hand are not ap
to be very sympathetic with those VIII
toll with the brain. The farmers VIII
raise the corn and the oats and tn
wheat sometimes are tempted 10 thinl
! that grain merchants have an easy tim
and get their profits without giving an,
equivalent. Plato and Aristotle wer
so opposed 10 merchandise that they de
clared commerce 10 be the curse OF tn
nations, and they advised that cities b
built at least ten miles from the se
coast. But you and know that ther
are no more Industrious or high-minde,
men than those who move in the worl
Of traffic. Some of them carry burden
heavier than hods Of brick, and are ex
posed to sharper things than the cas-
, wind, and climb mountains higher thai
the Alps or Himalayas, and II they ar
] faithful Christ viii at last say to them
well done. good and faithful, seryan,
thou hast been faithful over fe,
things. L Will make thee ruler owe
J many things. Enter thou into the 10
of thy Lord" /.
We all talk about the martyrs Of tn
! Piedmont Valley, and the martyr
| among the Scotch highlands, and In
, martyrs at Oxford There are just a
! certainly martyrs Of Wall street an
State street. martyrs OF Fulton stree
| and Broadway, martyrs OF Atlanti
street and Chestnut street. goinI
! through hotter fres, or having thei
neclss under sharper axes Then Il be
! hooves MS 70 Danish all fretfulness from