The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1895-07-19

1t only comes. our best merchants are
thrown into competition with men Of
more means and less conscience, and IL
an opportunity Of accumulation be neg
lected one hour. some one else picks 1t
up. From January to December the
struggle goes on. Night gives no quiet
TO limbs tossing in restleSSnes, nor to a
brain that will not stop thinking. The
dreams are narrowed by imaginary
loss, and flushed with imaginary gains.
Even the Sabbath cannot dam back the
tide or anxiety; for this wave Of world
Illness dashes clear over the churches,
n ave. its foam on Bibles and
prayer-books. Men who are living on
salaries, or by the cultivation Of the
soil, cannot understand the wear and
tear Of the body and mind to which our
merchants are subjected, when they do
not know but that their livelihood and
their business honor are dependent
upon the uncertainties Of the next hour.
This excitement Of the brain, this cor
roding care Of the heart, this strain
OF effort that exhausts the spirit, sends
a great many of our best men, in mid
die life, into the grave. Their life
dashed out against money safes. They
go with their store on their backs.
They trudge like camels, sweating, from
Aleppo to Damascus. They make their
life a crucifxion. Standing behind
desks and counters, banished from the
fresh air. weighed down by carking
cares. they are 50 many suicides. Oh! 1
wish I could, to-day, rub out some of
these lines Of care; that I could lift
some Of the burdens from the heart;
| that I nnuId uiuo ra1 20 fioo 81 ~
these worn muscles. 1t Is time for you
to begin to take it a little easier. Do
your best. and then trust God for the
rest. Nc not fret. God manages all
the affairs of your life. and he man
ages them for the best. Consider the
lilies-they always have robes. Be
hold the fowls Of the air-they always
have nests. Take a long breath. Be-
think. betimes, that God did not make
you for a pack-horse. Dig yourselves
out from among the hogsheads and the
shelves. and in the light Of the holy
Sabbath day resolve that you will give
to the winds your fears, and your fret
f%ulness. and your distresses. You
brought nothing into the world, and
it is very certain you can carry moth
ing out. Having food and raiment, be
Herewith content. The merchant
came home from the store. There had
been a great disaster there. He opened
the front door, and said, in the midst
of his family circle: 81 am ruined.
Everything is gone. I am all ruined"
His wife said: 81 am left" n the
little child threw up its hands and said:
Papa, I am here The aged grand
mother. seated in the room, said: ''Then
you have all the promises of God be-
side, John" And he burst into tears,
and said: God forgive me, that 1 have
been so ungrateful. 1 find I have a
great many things left. God forgive
me-"
Again, I remark, that many of our
business men are tempted to neglect
their home duties. How often it is that
the store and the home seem to clash,
but there ought not to be any collision.
1t is often the case that the father is
the mere treasurer of the family, a
sort of agent to see that they have dry
goods and groceries. The work of FAM
lily government he does not touch. Once
or twice a ear he calls the children up
on a Sabbath afternoon, when he has a
half hour he does not exactly know
what to do with. and in that half hour
he disciplines the children, and chides
them and correct5 their faults, and
gives them a great deal Of good advice,
and then wonders all the rest of the
year that his children do not do better,
when they AVE the wonderful advan-
tage of that s~emi-annual castigation.
The family table. which ought to be
the place for pleasant discussion and
c~heerfulness, often becomes the place of
perilouS expedition. If there be any
blessing asked at all, it is cut off at both
ends and with the hand on the cary
ing knife. He counts on his fingers.
making estimates in the interstices Of
the repast. The work done, the hat
goes to the head n he starts down the
street, and before the family have
arisen from the table he has bound up
another bundle Of goods and says to
the customer: Anything more I can
for you today, sir?" A a has more
RESPONSIBILITIES than those which are
charged by putting competent instruct
ors over his children and giving them a
drawing master and g music teacher.
The physical culture of the child will
not be attended to unless the father
looks to it. He must sometimes lose
his dignity. He must unlimber his
Joints. He must sometimes lead them
out to their sports M games. The
parent who cannot forget the sever
duties of life sometimes to fly the kite,
and trundle the hoop, and chase the
ball., and jump the rope with his chill
dren ought never to a been tempted
out of a crusty and unredeemable soil
fairness. If you want to keep your
children away from places of sin you
can only do it by making your home
attractive. You may preach sermons,
and advocate reforms, and d%enounce
wickedness. and yet your children will
be captivated by the glittering saloon
of sin unless you a make your home
a brighter place than any other place
on earth to them. Oh! gather all
charms into your house. If you can
afford it bring books, and pictures, and
cheerful entertainments to the house
hold. But, above all, teach those chill
dren, not by half an hour twice a year
on the Sabbath day. but day after day,
and every day teach them that religion
is a great gladness; that it throws
chains of gold about the neck; tina it
takes no spring from the foot, no blithe-
ness from the heart, no sparkle from
tho aya No ring from the laughter. but