The times., 1899-09-11
THE Secret OF SUCCESS
The Bible Full of Teaching on the
Subject Of Business Sense.
Sermon of Rev. IT. D. Power at the
Vermont Avenue Christian Church
-Greaf Men Who Have Been
known for Practical Industry
Others Who Labored UscfuIIy.

Rev. F. d. Power, of the Vermont Ave
nue. Christian Church. who has been
preaching a series of short sermons to
young people each Sunday evening for sew
eral weeks, last evening spoke on THE
! Virtue of Business Sense sSeest thou a
man diligent in business he shall stand be-
fore kings; he shall not stand before mean
men,
Our Lord" said the preacher, was
/ business man. He was about his fathers
1 business The Bible is full of teaching
on the subject of business. Christians are
/ exhorted TO be not slothful in business.
| Business makes men. Business is worthy
of men of the noblest qualifications, of the
4 greatest souls. Some have thought of it
as a mean, sordid, low down, earthly thing,
| which men of great talents might well
consider beneath them, and business man
as a sort Of person yol1ed TO go-cart, run
ming in beaten track and with no out
look worthy of a man. Nothing could be
falser. The young man who committed
suicide because he had been born to be a
man and condemned to be a grocer proved
by the act that his soul was not big enough
for the dignity of a grocery. 1t is not the
calling that degrades the man, but the
man the calling. All work that brings
honest gain is honorable. 1t is not ma
terial, but moral dirt that defiles people
/ greed more than CRIME. vice rather than
| verdigris. The school of business is one of
/ the noblest, and great business men
are quite as rare as great poets. Our
! greatest men have not disdained to labor
honestly and usefully for a living. Thales,
1 the first of the seven sages, and Solon, the
second founder of Athens were tradesmen.
Plato, called the divine, because of his
wisdom, paid his travelling expenses in
Egypt by selling oil on his journey. Moses
! and David tended sheep, Paul worked at
/ tent making, SpinoZa maintained himself
! by polishing glasses while he pursued his
philosophical Investigations, Linnasus
/ studied botany while he cobbled shoes, Mil
ton taught school, Sir Isaac Newton super
4 intended the coinage of the mint, and Sir
/ Walter Scott served as clerk Of the court.
! Highest genius is not incompatible with
I the ordinary principles OF business life. Pa
tient labor and application are as necessary
/ here as in the acquisition of knowledge
the pursuit of science, or the success Of
craftsmanship.
The secret of success in business is sim
ply practical industry. The fable of the
iabors Of Hercules is the type of all human
doing and human triumph. Every young
person should be made 10 feel that his hap
piness and we'll doing in life must neces-
sarily depend on himself and the exercise
and patronage OF others. You ought TO be
thrown overheard 10 sink or swim, and if
you 60 down, in nine cases ont Of ten, il is
because you are not worth saving. 1t is
not good to have too easy road. Some
men succeed by great talent, some by high
connections, some by miracle, but the ma
jority by commencing with quarter. At
tenticn. application. accuracy, method,
punctnality, despatch, with virtue and in
tegrity, are qualities that will tell every
time in every place and under every condi-
ton and with every community. Men like
Napoleon. Wellington. Washington, Lin
coin, Gladstone, Peter Cooper, George w
Childs, W. E. Dodge ". W Corcoran,
George Peabody. and Andrew Carnegie have
been known for practical industry punctual
attention TO details, faithful and diligent
use Of time. wise method of doing one
thing at time and doing it we'll.
And this virtue applies nowhere more
properly than in the sphere of religion.
Indeed, religion is business, the noblest
business, the most important, the most
profitable. II should command mans first
attention. The earnest spirit of business
must be met and controlled, suffusad and
ssnctitied by the still more earnest spirit
of religion. Men must have time to look
after their souls. Mamma, VIII you go to
heaven Wnen you Gle X asked a dlItie girl.
Yes. dear, I hope So Well 1 hope I
shall go. too. or you will be lonesome
oh, your papa will be there oh, no, said
the little one, papa can't go-he can't
leave the store She heard this excuse for
neglecting the prayer meeting. father
directed his little son to so in from playing
on the pavement. He refused and the
parent enforced obedience. The boy went
in bawling What's the natter asked
his mother. 'Oh-oh, man hit me- What
mani Man what stays here on Sundays.
Some people keep themselves in so great
rush about the things of the body that
they can never be alone. have no time for
their families, no chance TO serve God in
the sanctuary. Call such a man as this
2 business mani He does not know the
first principles of business. He neglects the
most important and pressing OF all busi-
nesses- He is as one who has a million
dollar enterprise at stake and dawdles over
dime. No man can be credited with a
mo9icum OF business sense who doesn't
look after the greatest interests first