Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-12-21

learned In any other way. 1IduoAo ~
Grain come 10 know something ABOUT
foreign harvest; traders in fruit come
m know something about the prospects
OF tropical production; manufacturers
~ American goods come TO understand
the tariff on Imported articles; publish,
ara NJ hooks must came to- understand
the new law OF copyright; owners OF
Sims must come TO know winds and
shoals and navigation and every bale
Of cotton. and every raisin cask, ana
every tea box, and every cluster OF
bananas is so much literature for
business man. j remark, also, that
business life is
A SCHOOL FOR INTEGRITY.
M man knows what he will do when
he is tempted. There are thousands OF
men who have kept their integrity
merely because they never have been
tested. A man was elected treasurer OF
the State of Maine some years ago. lie
was distinguished for his honesty, use
fitness and uprightness, but before one
wear had passed he mad taken OF the
Dublic funds for his own private use,
and was hurled out Of Office in disgrace.
Distinguished for virtue before. DIS
tipguished for crime after. You can
cali over the names Of men just ike
that, in whose honesty you had COM
plete confidence, but placed in certaln
crises OF temptation they went overheard.
Never so many temptations to Sound
relish as now. Not law on the statute
hook but has some back door through
which q miScreant can escape. An.
how many receptions in the fabric OF
goods; so much plundering in CONNER
cial life that II man talk about living
q life OF complete commercial accuracy
there are those who ascribe 1t TO green
ness and lack Of tact. More need OF
honesty now than ever before, tried
honesty, complete honesty, more than
I'm those times when business was
plain affair and woollens were woollens
and silks were silks and men were men.
OH, WHAT A SCHOOL
of integrity business life is. II you
have ever been tempted to to let your
integrity cringe before present adVan-
tage, II you have ever wakened up In
some embarrassment, and said: "Now,
I'll step 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 once has ruined tens OF
thousands OF men fer this life and
blasted their souls for eternity. 1t is
tremendous school, business life,
school OF integrity. A merchant in
England got a iive-pOund Bank OF Eng
land note, and holding IL up toward the
light he saw some interlineations In
what seemed red ink. He finally de-
ciphered the letters, and found out that
the writing had been made by a slave In
Alglers, saying in substance: "Who-
ever gets this bank-note will please
10 inform my brother, John Dean, liv-
ing near Carlisle, that l am slave OF
the Bey of Algiers." The merchant
sent word. employed government Off
GERS, and found who this man was,
spoken OF in this bank bill. After
awhile the man was rescued, who for
eleven years had been slave OF the
Bey OF Algiers. He was Immediately
emancipated, but was so worn out by
hardship aud 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, il would be tragedy eclipsing
any drama of Shakespeare, mightier
than King Lear or Macbeth.
ASI 90 on in this subject, l am i'm
pressed with the importance OF our haV-
ing more sympathy with business men.
Is it not a shame that we in our pulDits
do not oftener preach about their strug-
giles, their trials and their temptations?
Men who toll with the hand are not apt
TO be very sympathetic with those who
toll with the brain. The farmers who
raise the corn, 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 commerce to
be the curse OF the nations,
aud they advised that cities be built at
least ten miles from the sea-ceast. But
you and | know that there are no more
industries 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 HlmalayaS, and il they are faithful
Christ will at last say to them; "Well
done, good and faithful servant; thou
hast been faithful over few things, |
will make thee ruler over many things.
Enter thou Into the Joy of thy Lord"
We talk about the martyrs Of the
Piedmont valley, and the martyrs among
the Scotch highlands, and the martyrs
at oxford. There are just as GER
tAinly
MARTYRS OF WALL STREET
ana State street, and martyrs Of Fulton
street aud Broadway, martyrs of Attain
tic street and Chestnut street, going
through hotter fires, or having their
necks under sharper axes.