The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-11-19

1
balance of net increase.
Then there are details He has
gained SO much on this investment. He
has lost SO much on that. Some things
have been handled simply because il
was an accommodation TO his custom
ers. Some have had most limited de-
mand. Not one in twenty of the peo-
pie who came TO his store knew what
the curious things were for. Others did
not care. Some things he carried
simply because il was a qualification to
him TO see them in stock. In the gen.
eral casting up of accounts for the year,
all these considerations find place. AS
the merchant grows older in years and
in business his possessions increase.
With every successive annual invoice
he finds about him accessory details
which add to or detract from his busi-
ness profit. II takes good Judgment
and strong will to prune away the
delightful losses, and encourage the
distasteful profits.
We are all in business. We may not
"buy and sell and get gain" but our
lives are our stores, none the less. Our
patrons are the people we meet. The
profit we make from the intercourse
may be summed up in the one word
pleasure. That is the capital of this
fanciful trade. Memory is the informal
day book, checked and posted, which
we look over from time to time, and
which shows US past transactions Here
was a greeting. There was q compli-
ment. Further on was a generous
service. Scattered through it was the
record of good advice, valued informa-
tion, nameless and numberless benefits
conferred. Something from each Of
these is profit.
rendered to others. And il Is one of
the blessed things of this more golden
year that our chiefest profits are de-
rived from our expenditures. We have
grown richest on that for which we
paid the most in benefits conferred
The millionaire is the generous man.
The totally impoverished In he who
never does a benefit for his fellows.
The wise mans annual day of reckon
ing comes in the end of November.
Maybe he is farmer who has watched
cut the soil to autumn's haze, when
Ragged husks reveal the golden grain"
Maybe he is an artisan, who has armed
In summer against the wolf of winter.
Maybe he is a patriot, who sees his
country richer for the overflow of
twelve months blessings Whoever he
be, Thanksgiving day brings him time
for rejecting. 1t is not in dollars alone,
not in columns Of figures, not in the
heaped products of the mill or the
mine, that we measure the richest
riches. 1t is the gain each heart has
won, the wealth each soul has garnered
as the months ran by.
Here in the twilight of a blessed year
let us gather together about the tables
which bear our palmer blessings, and
cast mp the record of the twclvemonth's
trade. How much of wisdom we have
gained; how much Of happiness, how
much Of charity! How well we have
learned the blessedness 0f giving; the
priceless privilege of pardon, the un-
speakable pleasure Of q fragrant
memory.
Having these, IL matters little how
went the trivial fortunes of the year.
Having these, finding balance on the
credit side, our board is rich indeed,
though IL bear but bread and water.
Having these-the choicer blessings of
the year-let us make thanksgiving for
a summer ended, and pray TO
Him who counts life's sands,
And holds our loved ones in His hands,
TO send us forward choerfully into that
undiscovered country of the future.
LEROY ARMSTRONG.