The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-07-30

whom the stratagem had been laid
went home and died. And If you meet
a man with perpetual talk about hard
times and bankruptcy and dreadful
winters that are to come you break
down his courage. A few autumns ago,
as the winter was coming on, people
said: eve shall have terrible winter.
The poor will be frozen out this win.
ter. There was something in the large
store of acorns that the squirrels had
gathered and something in the phases
of the moon and something in other
portents that made you certain we were
going to have a hard winter. Winter
came. 1t was the mildest one within
my memory and within yours. ALI that
winter long l do not think there was
an icicle that hung through the day
from the caves of the house. So you
prophesied falsely. Last winter was
coming, and the people said: I'VE shall
have unparalleled suffering among the
poor. It will be a dreadful winter"
Sure enough, it was d cold winter, but
there were more large hearted charities
than ever before poured out on the coun-
try, better provision made for the poor
So that there have been scores Of win
tiers when the poor had a harder time
than they did last winter. Weather
prophets say we will have frosts this
summer which. Will hll the harvests.
Now, let me tell you, you have lied
twice shout the weather, and believe
you are lying this time,
Some People are SO overborne with
the dolorousness of the times that they
say we shall have communistic outrages
in this country such as they had in
France do not believe 1t. The parallel
does not run. They have no Sabbath,
no Bible, no God in France. We have
all these defepses for our American PEG,
pie, and public opinion is such that if
the people in this country attempt a
cutthrQat expedition they will land in
Sing Sing Or from the gallows 60 up on
tight rope 1 do not believe the people
of this country will ever commit out
RACES and riot and murder for the sake
OF getting bread. But all this lugubros-
ity of tone and face keeps people down.
Now will make contract If the peo-
pie of the United States for one week
will talk cheerfully, l will open all the
manufactures, l will give employment
to all the unoccupied men and women,
| will make a lively market for your
real estate that is eating you up with
taxes, l will stop the long professions
on the way to the poorhouse and the
penitentiary and 1 will spread plenti-
full table from Maine to California and
from Oregon to Sandy Hook, and the
whole land shall carol and thunder with
national jubilee. But says some one, Il
will take that contract, but we can't
affect the whole nation. My hearers
and readers, representing as you do all
professions, all trades and all occupa-
tions, if You should resolve never again
to utter dolorous word about the mon
ey markets, but by manner and by voice
and by wit and caricature and, above
all, by faith in God to try to scatter
this national gloom, do you not believe
the influence would be instantaneous
and widespread? The effect would be
felt around the world. For Gods sake
and for the sake of the poor and for the
sake of the employed quit growing.
Depend upon it, if you men IN comfort
able circumstances do not stop COM
planning, God will blast your harvests
and see how you will get along without
a corn crop, and he will sweep you with
floods, and he will devour you with
grasshoppers, and he will burn your
CITY. If you men in comforta BILE clrcum-
stances keep ON complaining, God will
give you something to complain about.
Mark that
The Best Investment.
The second prescription for the allie
Walton Of financial distresses is proper
Christian investment. God demands Of
every individual state and nation a GER
tain proportion of their income We are
parsimonious We keep back from God
that which belongs to him, and when
we keep back anything from God he
takes what We keep back, and he takes
more. He takes it by storm, by sick
ness, by bankruptcy, by any one of the
10000 ways which he can employ.
The reason many of you are cramped in
business is because you have never
learned the lesson of Christian gener-
osity. You employ an agent. You give
him reasonable salary, and. 70. you
find out that he is appropriating your
funds, besides the salary. What do you
do? Discharge him Well we are Gods
agents He puts in our hands certain
moneys. Part is to be ours, part is to be
his. Suppose we take all, what then?
He will discharge Us. He will turn US
over to financial disasters and take the
trust away from us. The reason that
great multitudes are not prospered In
business is simply because they have
been Withholding from God that which
belongs to him. The rule is, give and
you will receive, administer literally
and you shall have more to administer.
am in full sympathy with the man who
was to be baptized by immersion. and
some one said, "You had better leave
your pocketbook out; It will get wet "
"No," said he; II want to go down
under the wave with everything
want to consecrate my property and all
10 God" And so he was baptized. What
we want in this country is more bap-
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