The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-12-21


have achieved fortune could see 1t their
duty 20 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 LIE
how many things TO annoy and to disquiet
Bargains viii rub. Commercial men viii
sometimes fail to meet their engagements.
Cash book aud money drawer will some
times quarrel. Goods ordered for special
emergency viii come too late. or be dam
aged In the transportation. People intend
ing no harm will 20 shopping without any
intention of purchase, overturninS great
stocks of goods, and insisting that you
break the dozen. More bad debts on
the ledger. More counterfeit bills In
the drawer. More debts TO pay for
other people. More meanness on the part
Of partners IN business. Annoyance after
annoyance, vexation after vexation, and
loss after loss. All that process will either
break you down or brighten you up. IL Is
q school Of patience. You have known
men under the process TO become petulant
and oholeric and angry and pugnactous
and cross and sour and queer, and they lost
their customers and their name became
detestation. Other men have been bright
ened up under the process. They were
touQhened by the exposure They were
like rocks, all the more valuable for being
blasted. At first they had 20 choke down
their wrath, at first they had TO bite their
lip, at first they thought OF some singing
retort they would like 70 make; but they
conquered their impotence. They have
kind words now for sarcastic filings.
They have gentle behavior now for uD<
msnnerly customers They ars patient
now with unfortunate debtors They have
Christian reflection now for sudden re-
verses. Where did they get that patiencel
By hearing a minister preach concerning it
on Sabbathl o, no. They got it Just
where you will get tiff you over get it at
all-selling hats, discounting notes, turning
banisters, ploughing corn, thinning roofs,
pleading causes. o, that amid the turmoil
and anxiety and evaporation Of everyday
life you might hear the voice Of God say
ing:' "ln patience possess your soul. Let
patience have her perfect work"
] remark again, that business life is a
school Of useful knowledge. Merchants do
not read many books and do not study lex,
icons. They do not dive into profounds of
learning, and yet nearly all through their
occupations come to understand questions
of finance, and politics, and geography,
and Jurisprudence, and ethics Business is
a severe sohoolmistress. If pupils will not
learn she strikes them over the head and
the heart with severe losses You put
five thousand dollars into an enter
prise. It is all gone. You say.
''That is dead loss" o, no. You are
paying the schooling. That was only
sutton, very large tuition-I told you Il
was a severe schoolmistress-but it was
worth il You learned things under that
process you would not have learned In
any other way. Traders in grain come to
know something about foreign harvests /;
traders In fruit come to know something
about the prospects Of tropical production /;
manufacturers of American goods come to
understand the tariff on imported articles
publishers of books must come to under
stand 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 50 much
literature for q business mau. Now, my
brother, what are you going to do with the
intelligence Do you suppose God put you
In this school of information merely that
you might be sharper in q trade, that you
might be more successful as a worldling9
o, no; il was that you might take that
useful information and use it for Jesus
Christ. Can 1t be that you have been
dealing with foreign lands and never had
the missionary spirit, wishing the saliva
ton OF foreign peoplel Can Ii be that
you have become acquainted with all tbs
outrages inflicted In business life and thai
you have never tried to bring 70 bear tina
gospel which Is TO eItirpate all evil and cor
rect ell wrongs and illumine all darkness anC
liftup all wretchedness and save men for thi
world and the world to comet Can it be thai
understanding all the intricacies Of bust
iness, you know nothing about those thing
which will last after all bills of exchang,
and consignments aud invoices aud rem
rolls shall have crumbled up and been con-
sumed In the fires of the last great day
Can IL be that man viii be wise for tim
and fool for eternityi
/ remark, also, that business life is
school for integrity. No man knows what
be viii do when he is tempted. There ar
thousands Of men who have kept their In
tegrity merely because they never hav
been tested. A man was elected treasure
of the state Of Maine some years ago. Il
was distinguished for his honesty, useful
ness and uprightuess, but before one yea
had passed he had taken of the publi
funds for his own private use, and wa
hurled out Of Office in disgrace. Distin
guished for virtue before. Dis
tinguished for crime after. YoV
can call over the names of men Jus
like that, in whose honesty you had com
plete confidence, but placed in certain crisi
of temptation they went overheard. Neve
SO many temptations to scoundrelsm q
now. Not law on the statute book bu
has some back door through which mis-
creant can escape. All! how many decep
tons Ia the fabric of goods; SO much plum
dering in commercial life that IL q MAJ
talks about living life of complete com
mercial accuracy there are those VIII
ascribe it to greenness and lack OF tact
More need Of honesty now than ever before
tried honesty, complete honesty, more thai
IN those times when business was a plat
affair and woolens were woolens and silk
were silks and men were men.
How many men do you suppose there ar
in commercial life who could say truth
fully, In all the sales I have ever made
have never overEtated the value of goods
IN all the sales l have ever made | hav
never covered up an imperfection In til
fabric; OF all the thousands of dollars hav
ever made have not taken one dishones
farthingp There are men, however, VIII
can say it. hundreds who can say 1t, thou
sands who can say it. They are NOR
honest than when they sold their first tierc
OF rice, or their first frkin of butter, be
cause their honesty and integrity have bee
tested, tried and came out triumphant Blu
they remember time when they could hav
robbed partner, or have absconded wit
the funds of a bank, or sprung a sna
Judgment, or made a false assignment. Q
borrowed illimitably without any effort
at payment, or got man into sharp COZ
ner and heeced him. But they never too
one step on that pathway Of hell fire. The
can say their prayers without hearing Oh
chink of dishonest dollars. They can rea
their Bible without thinking of the tim
when with lie on their soul In the custol
house they kissed the book. They ca
think Of death and the judgment thu
comes after it without any finching-ths