The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1899-02-17

and through and through your busi-
ness.
Gathered in all religious assemblages
1t is a compliment 10 you that you
have been so intrusted. but l charge
you. in the presence Of God and the
world. be as careful Of the property Of
others, as you are careful Of your OWL.
Above all, keep your own private ac-
count at the bank separate from your
account as trustee of an estate ortrustee
OF an institution. That is the point at
which thousands of people make ship
wreck. They get the property OF 9th
ers mixed up with their own property.
They put it into investment, and away
il all goes. and they cannot return that
which they borrowed. Then ONE The
explosion, and the money market is
shaken, and the press d%enounces, and
the church thunders expulsion. You
have no right to use the property OF
others, except for their advantage, nor
without consent, unless they are minors.
If with their consent you invest their
property as well as you can, and 1t is
all lost, you are not to blame. You
did the best you could. but do not come
into the delusion, which has ruined so
many men, of thinking because a thing
is in their possession therefore it is
theirs. You have a solemn trust that
God has given you. In any asembiage
there may be some who have misap-
propriated trust funds. Put them back,
CT if you have SO helplessiy involved
them that you cannot put them back,
confess the whole thing to those whom
you have wronged, and you will sleep
better nights, and yon will have the
better chance for your soul. What a
sad thing it would be if. after you are
dead, your administrator should find
out from the account books or from the
lack of vouchers, that you are not only
bankrupt in estate, but that You lost
your soul. If all the trust funds that
have been misappropriated should sud
denly fly to their owners and all the
property that has been %purloined
should suddenly go back to its owners,
il would crush into ruin every city in
America.
4 missionary in M Of the islands of
the Pacific preached on dishonesty, and
the next morning he looked out of his
window, and he saw his yard full of
goods of all kinds. He wondered and
asked the cause of all this. well" said
= L. ,,ott,o, an, rods that ,psf boya
been worshiping permit us to steal, but
according to what you said yesterday
the God Of Heaven and earth will not
allow this. so we bring back all these
goods, and we ask you to help us in
hiking them to the places where they
belong" If next Sabbath all the minis
tiers in America should preach sermons
on the abuse of trust funds, and on the
evils Of purloining, and the sermons
we're all blessed of God, and regulations
we're made that all these things should
be taken to the city halls, it would not
he long before every city hall in Amer
lea would be crowded from cellar to
cupola.
Let me say in the most emphatic
manner to all young men, dishonesty
will never pay. An abbot wanted to
buy Il piece of ground. and the owner
would not sell it, but the owner finally
consented to let it to him until he could
raise one crop, and the abbot sowed
acorps, a crop of 200 years! And l tell
you, young man, that the dishonesties
which you plant in your heart and life
will seem to be very insignificant, but
they will grow up until they will over.
shadow you with horrible darkness,
o%vershadow all time and all eternity.
1t will not be a crop for 200 years, but
II crop for everlasting ages.
| have also a word of comfort for all
who suffer from the malfeasance OF
others, and every honest man. woman
and child does suffer from what goes
on in financial scampdom. Society is Sc
bound together that all the misfor-
tunes which good people suffer in bust.
of Others. Bear up under distress,
strong in God. He will see you through,
though your misfortunes should be
centupled. Scientists tell us that a
column of air As miles in height rests
on every nuns head and shoulders.
But that is nothing compared with the
pressure that business life has put upon
many of you. God made up His mind
long ago how many or how few dollars
1t would be best for you to have. Trust
to His appointment. The door will
open 10 let you out and let you up.
What shock of delight for men who for
80 years have been in business anxiety
when they shall suddenly awake in
holiday! On the maps oi
the arctic regions there are two places
names are remarkable, given.
suppose. by some polar expedition, Cape
Farewell and Thank God harbor. At
this last the Poiaris wintered in 1871 and