Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1891-12-24

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shame if | couldn't toll as hard for the
Lord as had toiled for myself, and all the
products of my factories and my CONNER
cial establishments to the last farthing
have gone for the building of Christian in
situations and supporting the church Of
God" Oh, if the same energy put forth
for the world could be put forth for Godl
| Oh, If a thousand men in these great cities
who have achieved fortune could see it
their duty to do all business for Christ and
the alienation of the worlds suffering
Again, remark, that business life is a
school Of patience. In your everyday life
how many things to annoy and TO dis
quietl Bargains will rub. Commercial
men will sometimes fail to meet their en-
gagements. Cash book and money drawer
will sometimes quarrel. Goods ordered
for special emergency will come too late
or be damaged in the transportation. Peo
pie intending no harm will go shopping
without any intention OF purchase. over
turning great stocks Of goods aud insisting
that you break the dozen Nope bad debts
on the ledger More counterfeit bills in
the drawer. More debts to pay for other
people. More meannesses on the part of
partners in business Annoyance after
loss after loss.
All that process will either break you
down or brighten you up. 1t is school OF
patience. You have known men under
the process to become petulant and chol-
eric and angry and pugnacious and cross
and sour and queer, and they lost their
customers, and their name became de-
testation. Other men have been bright
opaH mn 1bau
taughened by the exposure They were
like rocks. all the more valuable for being
blasted At first they had to choke down
their wrath, at first they had to bite their
lip. at first they thought of some singing
retort they would like to make, but they
conquered their Impotence They have
kind words now for sarcastic filings They
have gentle behavior now for unmannerly
customers. They are patient now with I'M
fortunate debtors They have Christian
reflections now for sudden reverses. Where
did they get that patiencep BY hearing
minister preach concerning it on Sabbaths
Oh, no. They got it just where you will
get tiff you ever get it at all-selling
hats, discounting notes, turning banisters,
blowing corn, Timing roofs, pleading
causes. Oh, that amid the turmoil and
oHAitt1 anu CAtSptidNipi VI every quay AliC
you might hear the voice of God saying:
'ln patience possess your soul. Let pa
thence have her perfect work"
BUSINESS A SCHOOL OF LIFE.
| remark again that business life is n
school of useful knowledge Merchants do
not read many books and do not study
lexieons. They do not dive into profounds
of learning and yet nearly all through
4
tions of finance and politics and geogra-
ply and Jurisprudence and ethics. Bust
ness is a severe schoolmistress. If pupils
will not learn. she strikes them over the
head and the heart with severe losses You
put 5000 into an enterprise. 1t is all gone
You say, "That is a dead loss" Oh, no
You are paying the schooling That was
only tuition, very large tuition-I told you
it was severe schoolmistress-- it was
worth it. You learned things under that
process you would not have learned in any
other way.
Traders in grain come TO know some
thing about foreign harvests: traders in
fruit come to know something about the
prospects of tropical production; manufac
turers of American goods come to under
stand the tariff on imported articles; pub |
fishers of books must come to understand |
the new law of copyright; owners of ships |
must come TO know winds and shoals and |
navigation; and every bale of cotton, and |
every raisin cask, and every tea box, and |
every cluster of bananas is so much litera-
ture for business man. Now, my brother, |
what are you going to do with the intelli- |
gence1 Do you suppose God put you in |
this school of information merely that you
might be sharper in trade, that you !
might be more successful as a worldlingS |
Oh, no; it was that you might take that
useful information and use it for Jesus
Christ.
Can it be that you have been dealing |
with foreign lands and never had the mis-
sionary spirit, wishing the salvation of
foreign people2 Can it be that you have |
become acquainted with all the outrages |
inflicted in business life, and that you have
never tried to bring to bear that Gospel
which is to extirpate all evil and correct
all wrongs and illumine all darkness and
lift up all Indebtedness and save men for
this world and the world to come? Can it
be that understanding all the intricacies
of business you know nothing about those
things which will last long after all bills
of exchange and consignments and invoices
and rent rolls shall have crumpled up and
been consumed in the fires of the last great
day? Can it be that a man will be wise for
time and fool for eternityg
A SCHOOL FOR INTEGRITY.
/ remark, also, that business life is a
school for integrity. No man knows what
he will do when he is tempted. There are
of men who have kept their in
tegrity merely because they never have
been tested. A man was elected treasurer
of the state of Maine some years ago. He
was distinguished for his honesty, useful
ness and uprightness, but before one year
had passed he had taken of the public
funds for his own private use, and was
hurled out of office in disgrace Distin-
guished for virtue before. Distinguished
for crime after. You can call over the
names of men just like that, in whose hon
esty you had complete confidence, but
placed in certain crises Of temptation they
went overheard
Never so many temptations to scoundrel-
ism as now. Not a law on the statute book
but has some back door through which a
m nf ran acfa hour Jo