The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-08-28

sometimes are tempted to think that
grain merchants have an easy time and
get their profits without giving any
equivalent.
Plato and Aristotle were 30 opposed to
merchandise that they declared COM
merce to be the curse Of the nations, and
they advised that cities be built at least
ten miles from the seacoast. But you
and l know that there are no more In
dustrious or highminded men than those
who move In the world of traffic. Some
of them carry burdens heavier than hOds
Of brick. and are exposed to sharper
things than the east wind, and climb
mountains higher than the Alps or Him
alayas. and IL they are faithful Christ
will at last say to them: well done,
good and faithful servant. Thou hast
been faithful over few things. ! will
make thee ruler over many things. En-
ter thou into the JOY of thy Lord"
Our Everyday Martyrs.
We talk about the martyrs OF the Pied
mont valley, and the martyrs among the
Scotch highlands, and the martyrs at
Oxford. There are just as certainly mar
tyrs Of Wall street and State street,
martyrs Of Atlantic street and Chestnut
street, going through hotter fires, or hay
Ing their necks under sharper axes. Then
1t behooves US to Danish all fretfulness
from our lives, IL 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 Business life is
school, and the tasks are hard, and the
Establishments sometimes are very griev-
Gus. But do not complain. The hotter
the fire the better the refining There
are men before the throne Of God this
day in triumph who on earth were cheat.
ed out Of everything but their coffin.
They were sued, they were imprisoned
for debt, they were throttled by cOnsta-
bles with 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 ringing
of the doorbell by some impetuous cred.
itor who thought 1t was outrageous and
impudent that a man should dare to die
before he paid the last half dollar.
l had u friend who had many misfor-
tunes. Everything went against him. He
had good business capacity and was of
the best of morals. but he was one Of
those men such as you have sometimes
seen, for whom everything seems to 90
wrong. His life became to him plague.
When heard he was dead, said, Good
got rid of the sheriffs" Who are those
lustrous souls before the throne? When
the question is asked, who are they?
the angels standing OH the sea of glass
respond, "These are they who came out
of great business trouble and had their
robes washed and made white In the
blood Of the Lamb"
An Answer to Prayer.
A man arose in Fulton street prayer
meeting and said: 81 wish publicly to
acknowledge the goodness Of God. l was
In business trouble. I had money to pay,
and had no means to pay it, and Twas in
utter despair of all human help, and l
laid this matter btSore the Lord, and this
morning l went down among some old
business friends had not seen in many
years Just to make n call and one said to
me: why, am so glad to see YOU! Walk
in. We have some money OH our books
due you a good willie, but we didn't know
where you were, and therefore not hav.
ing your address we could not send it.
We are very glad you have Gomez" And
the man standing in Fulton street prayer
meeting said, "The amount they paid me
was six times what l owed.' You say
It only happened so? You are unbeliev-
Ing God answered that mans prayer.
Oh you want business grace! Com
mercial ethics, business honor laws Of
trade, are all very good in their place,
but there are times when you want some
thing more than this world will give you.
You want God. For lack Of him some
that YOU have known have consent
ed to forge. and to maltreat their friends,
and TO curse their enemies, and their
names have been bulletined among scoun-
drels, and they have been ground to pow
der, while other men you have known
have gone through the very same stress
of circumstances triumphant There are
men here today who fought the battle
and gained the victory. People come ont
of that mans store, and they say: well,
II there ever was 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 storehonse. 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 II little closer, and
you see written on the card Of that win.
dow, CLOSED on account of the death of
one of the firm That day all through
the circles Of business there Is talk about
how good man has gone. Boards of
trade pass resolutions of sympathy, and
churches of Christ pray, Help, Lord, for
, the godly man ceascth." He has made
his last bargain, he has suffered his last
loss, he has ached with the last fatigue.
His children will get the result of his in
dustry, or, if through misfortune there be
no dollars left, they will have an estate
of prayer and Christian example which
will be everlasting Heavenly rewards
for earthly discipline. There the wick
ed cease from troubling and the weary