The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-02-23
Common Sense About Debts.
BY CHARLES PHILLIPS, d. D.. Ii. D.
PAY what thou Owest. y

I. Simple honesty requires this pay
meut. An intelligent man knows when
he is in debt, and conscience bids him
get out of it. A man who is careless
or reckless about his debts is man
with dead conscience.
2. A regard for his reputation urges
a man to pay his debts. His veracity
is in danger while they are unpaid.
Credit was given him because he had
promised to pay them. Confidence
OF man in man is injured by neglect
of such obligations.
Z. Society is not a mass of separate
individuals. 1t consists of men tied
together by faith in mutual promises.
If \ does not pay his debts, he can
not expect to get what B owes him
whether it be money or favors.
d. Law, the expression Of authority,
demands the payment Of deb,s. Courts
and Judges and Lawyers exist to decide
and declare the necessity of such pay
ments. Sheriffs and Constables are
bound to execute these declarations.
The whole force of our Society, both
moral and organized, is at the back of
our officials to secure the payment of
what is justly owed. The credit of
men in business depends on the per-
sonal reliability of debtors, and on the
vigorous, prompt, impartial and sue
cessful execution OF the laws which de-
fine for a creditor his peculiar rights.
HOW CAN DEBTS BE PAID
In one or two ways only. By the
debtor himself or his surety. Either
the debtor himself must provide the
necessary funds-from his own prop
erty, that is, by his own exertions-or
he must provide sufficient surety,
one willing and able to pay the debt.
This ability consists in his having
property which is not liable for other
debts. The wit of man has never and
nowhere devised any other way to pay
lawful debts. Either of these two ways
leads one into sure defense against
the demands of lawful creditor.
! ADUTY IS DEBT.
Its very name shows what it is. The
word duty has the same origin as debt.
Both come from a Latin word which
means to Que. "Pay vAat thou
oayesf' is but another form of "Do
your dhty.' "D0 aVhat you ought is
also but command to pay ones
debts. l ought to do that of which l
owe the doing. 1t is the duty Of every
rational and responsible creature to
love his Creator, to fear Him and keep
His commandments. These are debts
of first and inevitable obligation. A
man ought to love his fellow man, to
love his wife, his family, his country,
to be truthful, and industrious, and
courteous, and sympathetic, and
generous. Never, SO long as he is
alive, can he escape from these debts.
If he neglect one, or if he has failed
in the slightest of these universal
duties, he is in debt to God, or to man,
or to both. "Pay zvAaf thou ozoest''
will ring i'll his ears wherever he is
whatever he may become. He must
get rid of Conscience before he can
become deaf to this cry. Law must
die that he may live from these and
ten thousand other such debts.
WE MUST PAY THEM,
or surety must pay them for US.
Annihilation is the only relief from
both of these obligations. If the prin-
cipal in these debts the man subject
to these duties-cannot perform them,
he must, that he may be a free man,
present proper surety. This surety
must-according to common sense
be free from, above the law that i'm
poses these duties. Else his love, fear,
honesty and liberality will free but
his own self from the Law. This must
have what it claims. 1t cannot be
satisfied with less. 1t cannot give
credit for more
So then common sense, without
NCFGtdllOu, uCIldlCS lIldl d ilIdll uluSl
pay his debts, do his duty, act and
feel as he ought, either by himself or
through an acceptable and accepted
surety.
To this conclusion from human
philosophy and experience the Word
of God gives full endorsement. GAS
1t is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment So Christ
was once offered to bear the sins OF
many; and unto them that look for
him shall he appear the second time
without sin unto salvation" Hebrews
tx, Fl, 20. Now sin is debt, and
bearing of sin is the payment of debts,
and looking for Christ is Faith in
Him.
"When tits we'll when it's done,
then 'twere we'll 'twere done quickly"
Read Romans viii. IA.