Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-09-14
ance, ve1a.ion after vexation and loss at

HOW many men 90 Won suppose tnofo
are in commercial life who could say
truthfully, sIn all the sales have ever
made have never overstated the value
Of goods, in all the sales I have ever
made have never covered up an imper-
fection in the fabric, OF all the thousands
Of dollars 1 have ever made have not
taken one dishonest farthin2?" There are
men, however, who can say 1t, hundreds
who can say it, tt ousands who can say it.
They are more honest than when they sold
their rst tierce of rice or their first flrkn
of butter, because their honesty and
integrity have been tested, tried and
come out triumphant Bat they re-
member time when they could have
the funds Of u bank, or sprung snap
judgment, or made false assignment, or
borrowed iilimitably without any efforts
at payment, or got man into sharp
corner and feeced him. But they never
took one step on that pathway Of hell fire
They can say their prayers without hear
ing the cbink OF dishonest dollars. Can
read their Bible without thinking of
the time when with lie on their soul In
the custom house they kissed the book.
They can think Of death and the judgment
that comes after 1t without any fiinchng-
that day when all charataus and cheats
and jockeys and frauds shall be doubly
damned.
What school of integrity business life
Is! II you have ever been tempteI TO let
your integrity cringe before present ad-
vantages, If you have ever wakened up in
some embarrassment and said Now I will
step little aside from the right path, and
no one will know it, and 1 will come all
right again. 1t is only once" That only
once has ruined tens Of thousands OF men
for this life and blasted their souls for eter-
nifty.
merchant in Liverpool got e5 Bank
Of England note, and, holding it toward
the light, he saw some interlineations in
hat NnA sod fnl 1lv do
ciphered the letters and found out that the
writing had been made by a slave in AL
giers saying in substance, "Whoever gets
this bank note will please to inform my
brother, John Dean, living near Carlisle,
that l am slave of the bey of Algiers."
The merchant sent word, employed Gov
ernment officers and found who this man
was spoken OF in this bank note. After
awhile the man was rescued, who for
eleven years had been a slave OF the bey of
Algiers He was Immediately emancipated.
but was so worn out by hardship and ex-
posure he soon after died. Oh, If some OF
the bank bills that come through your
hands could tell all the scenes through
which they have passed it would be
tragedy eclipslng any drama OF Shakes
peare, mightier than King Lear or Mac.
beth!
Plato and Aristotle were so opposed to
merchandise that they declared commerce
to be the curse OF the nations, and they ad-
vised that cities be built at least ten miles
from the sea coast. But you and l know
that there are no more Industrious or high
minded men than those who move in the
world of traffic. Some of them carry bur-
dens heavier than hods of brick, and are
exposed to sharper things than the east
wind, and climb mountains higher than
the Alps or Himaayas, and il they are
faithful Christ will at last say to them:
"Well done, good aud faithful servant;
thou hast been faithful over few things,
l will make thee ruler over many things.
Enter thou into the JOY Of thy Lord"
! We talk about the martyrs of the Pieo
mont valley, and the martyrs among the
Scotch highlands, and the martyrs at Ok
ford. 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 1t behooves us
to Danish all fretfulness from our lives, II
this subject be true. We look back to the
time when we were nt school, and we re.
member the rod. and we remember the
hard tasks, and we complained grievously;
but now we see 1t was for the best. Busi-
ness life is school, and the tasks
nre hard, and the chastisements sometimes
are very grievous; but do not complain.
The hotter the FIRE the better the reining.
There are men before the throne Of God
this day in triumph who on earth were
cheated out Of everything but their coffin.
They were sued, they were impris soned for
debt, they were throttled by constables
with whole pack OF writs, they were sold
out by the sherifs. they had to comprom-
ise with their creditors. they had to make
assignments. Their dying hours were an
noyed by the sharp ringing of the door
bell by some impetnous creditor who
thought it was outrageous and impudent
that q man should dare to die before he
paid the last half dollar.
/ had 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 rs you have sometimes seen, for
whom everything seems to so wrong. His
life became to him plague. When |
heard he was dead, said, Good, got rid
of the sheriffsp' Who are those lustrous
souls before the throne? When the ques-
tion is asked, "Who are they?" the angels
standing on the sea of glass respond,
"These IRE they who came out OF great
business trouble and had had their robes
washed and made white In the blood Of the
Lamb"
/ A man arose in Fulton street prayer meet
ing and said: 81 wish publicly to acknowi-
edge the goodness OF God. was in busi-
ness trouble. l had money to pay and /
had no means to pay it. and l was in utter
despair of all human help, and l laid this
matter before the Lord, and this morning
went down among some old business friends
l had not seen in many years Just to make
call, and one said TO me. 'Why, am so
glad to see you'll Walk in. We have some
money on our books due you good while,
but we didn't know where you were, and
therefore not having your address we could
not send 1t. We are very glad you have
comet" And the man standing in Fulton
street prayer meeting said, '"rhe amount
they paid ME was six times what / owed"
You say 1t only happened SO? You are un-
believing. God answered that mans
prayer.
Oh, you want business gracel Com
mercial ethics, business honor, laws Of
trade are all very good in their place, but
there are times when you want something
more than this world will give you. You
want God. For the lack OF Him some
that you have known have consented to
forge, and to matreat their friends, aad
to curse their enemies, and their names
have been bulletined among acoundrels,
and they have been ground to powder,
while other men you have known have gone
| through the very same stress of cir.