The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1897-08-26
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
A Practical Sermon to the Great
Army of Clerks.
Advice as to Conduct In Business
portance of the Habits of Industry,
Punctuality and Obedience
to Employers.

And certain woman named Lydia, seller
OF purple, of the city of Thyatira, which wor-
SHIPPED God, heard US whose heart the Lord
opened. Acts xvi, Il
Seest thou man dligent in his business He
shall stand before kin.ys.-Proverbs, xii, %.
The first passaged introduce to you
lydia, a Christian merchantess. Her
! business is to deal in purple cloths or
silks. She is not giggling nonentity,
but practical woman, not ashamed to
work for her living. All the other
| women of Philippi and Thyatira have
mortal in our text Lydia, the Christian
, saleswomen. The other text shows
| YOU man with head, and hand, and
| heart, and foot all busy toiling on up
until he gains d princely success.
"Seest thou man diligent in his bust
ness? lie shall stand before kings
Great encouragement in these two
passages for men and women who will
! be busy, but no solace for those who
are waiting for good luck to show
| them, at the foot of the rainbow, a
casket of buried gold. 1t is folly for
any body in this world to wait for
something to turn up. 1t will turn
| down. The law of thrift is as ineXor-
able as the law of the tides. Fortune,
the magician, may wave her wand in
that direction until castles and palaces
come; but she will, after awhile, invert
the same wand, and all the splendors
will vanish into thin air.
| There are certain styles of behavior
which lead to usefulness, honor and
permanent success, and there are GER
tain styles of behavior which lead to
dust, dishonor and moral default.
| would like to fire the ambition of young
people. have no sympathy with those
who would prepare young folks for
life by whiting down their expecta-
| tons. That man or woman will be
worth nothing to church or state who
begins life cowed down. The business
of Christianity is not to quench but
to direct human ambition. There
fore, it is that l utter words OF
encouragement to those who are occu.
pied as clerks in the stores, and shops,
and banking houses of the country.
They are not an exceptional class.
They belong to great company OF
tens of thousands who are in this
country, amid circumstances which
will either make or break them for
time and for eternity. Many of these
people have already achieved a Chris
tian manliness and Christian woman
illness which will be their passport to
any position. l have seen their trials.
/ have watched their perplexities
There are evils abroad which need tc
be hunted down, and dragged out into
the monday light.
In the first place, | counsel clerks te
remember that for the most part their
clerkship is only Il school from which
they are to be graduated. 1t takes
about eight years to get into one Of
the learned professions 1t takes
about eight years to get to be mer-
chant. Some of you will be clerks all
your lives, but the vast ma ority of yor
are only in transient position. AT
ter awhile, some December day, the
head men of the firm will call you
into the back Office, and they will
say to you: Now, you have done
well by US; we are going to do well Dy
you. We invite you to have an interest
in our concern" You will bow to thai
edict very gracefully. Getting into a
street car to go home, an old comrade
will meet you and say: What make.
you look SO happy to-night?' "Oh,
you will say, nothing, nothing" Bu1
in a few days your name will blossom
on the sign. Either in the store OF
bank where you are now, or in some
other store or bank, you will take /
higher position than that which vol
now occupy. Sol feel am not address
ing people who will yet have theil
hand on the helm of the worlds com
merce, and you will turn it this way o.
that; now clerks, but to be bankers
importers, insurance company direc
tors, shippers, contractors, superin
tendents of railroads-your voic,
mighty Ion change fore
most in the great financial and relig
lous enterprises of the day. For, though
we who are in the professions may. OF
the platform, plead for the philan
thropies, after all, the merchants mus
come forward with their millions t,
suspend the movement.
BE, therefore, patient and diligen
in this transient position. You ar
now where you can learn things 20,
can never learn in any other place
What You consider your disadvantage
are your grand opportunity. You Sc
an atfiuent father some day come dow
a prominent street with his son VIII,
has just graduated from the university
and establishing him in business, put
ting $4,000 of capital in the store
Well, you are envious. You say: ''Oh
If only had chance like that youns
man-if l only had a father to put $50,
900 in a business for me, then | woul,
have some chance in the world" B.
not envious. You have advantage
over that young man which he has no
over you. AS we'll might come dow
to the docks when vessel is about t.
sail for Valparaiso, and say: Let m
pilot this ship out to sea- Why,
would sink crew and cargo before
got out Of the harbor, simply becaus
l know nothing about pilotage
Wealthy sea captains put their sons be