The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1897-09-23
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
A discourse to Young Men on the
DespOtism Of Debt.
Lii - of Conduct Which Lead to Certain
Success Dangers of Borrowing
IIo, Keep on the Right
Side of the Ledger.

$1,000
men, The text is:
As an OK to the slaughter. -ProverbS. vii, %.
There is nothing in the voice or man
ner of the butcher to indicate to the OK
that there is death ahead. The OK
thinks he IS going on to rich pasture
field Of clover where all day long he
will rcvel herbaceous luXuriance; but
after awhile the men and the boys
close in upon him with sticks and
stones and shouting, and drive him
through bars and into doorway,
where he is fastened, and with we'll
aimed stroke the ak fells him; and SO
the anticipation of the redolcnt pas
ture field is completely disappointed.
so many a young man has been driven
on by temptation to what he thought
would be paradioiacal enjoyment; but
after aW lille influences with darker hue
and Swarthier arm close in upon him,
and he finds that instead of making an
excursion into 4 garden he has been
driven ''as ~ OK to the slaughte.'
We are apt to blame young men for
being destroyed when we ought to
blame the Influences that destroy them.
Society slaughters a great many young
men by the behest: You must keep up
appearance; whatever be your salary,
you must dress as we'll as others, you
must give wine and brandy to as many
friends, you must smoke as costly CT
gars, You must give as expensive enter
tainments, and you must live in as
fashionable a boarding house. If you
haven't the money, borrow. If you
can't borrow, make a false entry, or
subtract here and there bill from a
bundle of bank bills; you will only
have to make the deception a little
while; in a few months, or in a year or
two, you can make all right. Nobody
will be hurt by it, nobody will be the
wiser. You yourself will not be dam
aged" BY that awful process hun
dred thousand men have been slaugh-
tered for time and slaughtered for eter-
nifty.
Suppose you borrow. There is moth
ing wrong about borrowing money.
There is hardly man who has not
sometimes borrowed money. Vast es-
tates have been built on a borrowed
dollar. But there are two kinds of bOr-
rowed money: Money borrowed for the
purpose of starting or keeping up
legitimate enterprise or expense, and
money borrowed to get that which you
can do without. The first is right. the
other is wrong. If you have money
enough of your own to buy a coat
however plain, and then you borrow
money for a dandy's outfit, you have
taken the first revolution of the whee
down grade. Borrow for the necessi
ties; that may be we'll. Borrow fol-
the Injuries; that tips your prospect.
over in the wrong direction.
The Bible distinctly says the Dor
rover is servant of the lender. 1t is
bad state of things when you have t,
go down some other street to escap,
meeting some one you owe. If youns
men knew what is the despotism 0
being in debt, more of them would
keep out of it. What did debt do TO
Lord Bacon, with a mind tower
ing above the centuries? 1t in
duced him to take brides and con
Wet himself as criminal be
fore all ages. What did debt do TO
Walter Scott? Broken hearted at AT
botsford. Kept writing until his han,
gave out in paralysis to keep tn
sheriff away from his pictures an
statuary. Better for him if he ha,
rninded the maxim which he had CHS
eled over the fireplace at Abbotsford
Waste not, want not"
The trouble is, my friends, that pee
\ I 4 ] 81.
ing in debt and that if you purchas
goods with no expectation of payin
for them, or go into debts which yo
can not meet, you steal just SO muc
money. If l go into grocers stor
and | buy sugars and cotfees and meat
with no capacity to pay for them. an
no intention of paying for them, | al
more dishonest than if 60 into tn
store, and when the grocer's face
turned the other way | fill my pocket
with the articles of merchandise an
carry off ham. In the one case
take the merchants time and | TAX
the time of his messenger to transfe
the goods to my house, while in til
other case | take none of the time
the merchant, and | wait upon mysel
and | transfer the goods without an
trouble to him! In other words,
sneak thief is not so bad as man WI
contracts debts he never expects
pay.
Yet, in all our cities there are fam
lies who move every Mayday to g.
into proximity to other grocers an
meat shops and apothecaries. The
owe every body within half a mile
where they now live, and next Ma
they will move into distant part
the city, finding new lot of victim
Meanwhile you, the honest family
the new house, are bothered day |
day by the knocking at the door
disappointed bakers and butchers, al
dry goods dealers, and newspaper ca
riers, and you are asked where yo1
predecessor is You do not kno,
1t was arranged you shou
not know. Meanwhile your pred
cessor has gone to some distant part
the city, and the people who have an
thing to sell have sent their wago
and stopped there to solicit the val
able" custom of the new neighbo