Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1899-08-21
many things. Enter thou into the Joy
Of thy Lord

Business Martyrs.
We talk about the martyrs Of the
Piedmont valley, and the martyrs
among the Scotch highlands, and the
martyrs at Oxford. There are just as
certainly martyrs of Wall street and
State street, martyrs of Fulton street
and Broadway, martyrs Of Atlantic
street and Chestnut street, going
through hotter fires, or having their
necks under sharper axes. Then it be-
hoOves us to Danish all fretfulness
from our lives, If this subject be true.
We look back to the time when we
were at school, and we remember the
rod, and we remember the hard tasks
and we complained grievously; but
now we see 1t was for the best. Bust
ness life Is a school, and the tasks
are hard, and the chastisements some
times are very grievous; but do not
complain. The hotter the fire the bet
ter the refining. There are men before
the throne Of God this day in triumph
who on earth were cheated out of ev-
erything but their coffin. They were
sued, they were imprisoned for debt,
they were throttled by constables
with a whole pack Of writs, they were
sold out by the sheriffs, they had to
compromise with their creditors, they
had to make assignments. Their dying
hours were annoyed by the sharp ring
ing of the door bell by some impetuous
creditor who thought it was outrageous
and impudent that a man should dare
to die before he paid the last half dol
lar.
I had a friend who had many mis-
fortunes. Everything went against
him. He had good business capacity
was one of those men such as you
have sometimes seen, for whom every
thing seems to go wrong. His life be-
came to him a plague. When L heard
he was dead, said, "Good; got rid of
the sheriffsw Who are those lustrous
souls before the throne? When the
question is asked. 'Who are they?"
the angels standing on the sea of
glass respond, ''These are they who
came out of great business trouble and
had had their robes washed and made
white in the blood Of the Lamb
How God Helps.
~ dIOSe Ill Q1lOu SIIccI
and said: 81 wish publicly to
the goodness Of God. 1
was in business trouble. 1 had money
to pay, and L had no means to pay it,
and / was in utter despair of all HUI
man help, and 1 laid this matter be-
fore the Lord, and this morning 1 went
down among some old business friends
had not seen in many years just to
make a call, and one said to me: why,
I am SO glad to see you! Walk in. We
have some money on our books due
you a good while, but we didn't know
where you were, and therefore not
having your address we could not
send it. We are very glad you have
And the man standing in
Fulton street prayer meeting said,
''The amount they paid me was six
times what I owed" You say it only
happened so? You are unbelieving.
God answered that mans prayer.
Oh, you want business graceS Com
mercial ethics, business honor, laws of
trade are all very good in their place,
but there are times when you want
more than this world will
give you. You want God. For the lack
Of him some that you have known have
to forge, and to maltreat
their friends, and to curse their enc
mics, and their names have been bull
letined among scoundrels and they
have been ground to powder, while
other men you have known have gone
through the very same stress of cir
triumphant. There are men
here today who fought the battle and
gained the victory. People come out of
that mans store and they say, "Well,
il there ever was a Christian trader,
that is one" Integrity kept the books
and waited on the customers. Light
from the eternal world flashed through
the show windows. Love to God and
love to man presided in that store
house. Some day people going through
the street notice that the shutters Of
the window are not down. The bar of
that store door has not been removed.
People say, "What Is the matter?'
You go up a little closer and you see
written on the card of that window,
''Closed on account Of the death Of one
Of the firm" That day all through the
circles of business there is talk about
how a good man has gone. Boards Of
trade pass resolutions of sympathy,
and churches of Christ pray, "Help,
Lord, for the godly man ceaseth." He
has made his last bargain, he has suf-
fered his last loss, he has ached with
the last fatigue. His children will get
the result of his industry, or, If through
there be no dollars left,
they will have an estate Of prayer and
Christian example, which will be ever
lasting. Heavenly rewards for earthly
discipline. There ''the wicked cease
from troubling and the weary are at
raSt