Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-08-24

thcsc2' "Oh." ne replied. II have got
over those Puritauical notions. a man
cannot DO business In this day unless
he does II I'm the way other people do
IT." To make long story short. he
lost his hope OF heaven. aud I'm little
while he lost his morality. and then be
went into a madhouse. In other words.
when Il man casts OF God. God casts
him of.
One OF the mightieSt temptations In
commercial life in all cities today is
in the fact that many profeSscd Chris.
tian men are not square i'm their bar
gains. Such men are In BAPTIST and
Methodist and COnsrvga tional church
cs. and our own denomination Is "a
largely represented as any OF them.
Our good merchants are foremost In
Christian enterprises: they are patron
tiers Of art. philanthropic and pa
triotic. God win attend 20 them in the
day of his coronation. am not speak
ing Of them. but of those in CONNER
cial life who are setting n ruinous ex-
ample 10 our young merchants. Go
through all the stores and offices in
our cities and tell me I'm how many
OF those stores and Offices are the prin-
ciples of Christ's religion dominant?
In three-fourths of themy No. In
half of them? No. In one-teuth of
them? No. Decide for yourself The
impression is abroad somehow that
charity can consecrate Ubiquitous
gains and that if man give TO God
90 fsrl,t -,
then the Lord will forgive him the rest.
The secretary of benevolent society
came 30 me and said. Mr.. So-and so
has given large amount of money 10
the missionary cause" mentioning the
sum. said. II can't believe il" lie
said. lit Is SO" Wen. went horne.
staggered and confounded. never
knew the man to give anything. But
SITTER awhile | found out that he had
been engaged i'm the most infamous
kind of n swindle. and then he prom
ised to compromise the matter with
the Lord. saying: Now. here is so
much for thee. Lord. Please to let
me off,"
Political Reform.
want to tell you that the church
OF God is not shop for receiving
stolen goods. and that. II you have
taken anything from your fellows. you
had better return il TO the men to
whom IL belongs. In drug store i'm
Philadelphia n young man was told
that he must sell backing on the
Lords day. He said to the head man
Of the firm: IL can't possibly do that
L am willing to sell medicines on the
Lords day. for | think that is right
and necessary; but l can't sell this
patent backing" He was discharged
from the place 4 Christian man hear
ing of il took him into his employ, and
he went on from one success TO an
other until he was known all over the
land for his faith in God and his good
works as for his worldly success.
When a man has sacrificed any tenn
poral. financial good for the sake of
his spiritual interests the Lord is on
his side. and one with God is n ma
jority.
But IL you have been much among
the cities you have also noticed that
they are full OF temptations Of n politi-
cal character. Ii is not SO more i'm one
city than in all the cities. Hundreds Of
men going down i'm our cities every
year through the pressure OF politics
Once in awhile man viii come out in
n sort of missionary spirit and say, Il
am going into politics now to reform
them. and | am going TO reform the
ballot box, and | am going TO reform
all the people / come I'm contact with"
That man in the fear and love OF God
goes into politics with that idea and
with the resolution that he Will come
out uncontaminated and as good as
when he went in. but generally the
case is, when a man steps into politics.
many Of the newspapers try 10 hlackcn
his character and to distort all - PAST
history. and after little wa,c has
gone by, instead OF considering himself
an honorable citizen. he is lost In con.
temptation and In admiration OF The
fact that he has so long been kept out
or jail! If man should go into poll
tics 10 reform politics and with the
right spirit. he viii come out with the
right spirit and unhurt. That was
Theodore Frclinghuysen OF New Jer-
sey. That was George Briggs OF Mas
sachusetts. That was Judge Mclean
OF Ohio.
Then look around ana see the allure
mcnts 20 dissipated life. Bad books.
unknown 10 father aud mother, vile as
the reptiles OF Egypt. crawling into
some OF the best OF families of the
community. and boys read them while
lie 81,
at recess or on the corner of the street
when the groups are gathered. These
books are read late at night Satan
finds them q smooth plank on which he
can slide down into perdition some of
your sons and daughters. Reading bad
DOCKS. one never gets over il. The
books may be burned. hut there Is not
enough power i'm all the apothecary's
preparations 10 wash out the stain
from the soul. Fathers hands. moth.
ers' hands. sisters hands Will not wash
t~out None but the hand OF the Lord
can wash IL out.
God Does Not Excuse Sin.
And what is more perilouS In regard
TO some OF these temptations we NAV
not mention them. While God in his
Bible from chapter to chapter thunder
Ell his denunciations against these
crimes. people expect the pulpit and
the printing press 10 be silent on the
subject. and just in proportion as pco-
pie are Impure are they fastidious on
this theme. They are so fun OF decay
and death they do not want their sep
uichers opened. God will turn into
destruction all the unclean. and no
splendors of surrounding can make
decent that which he has smitten. Cod
VIII not excuse sin merely because il
has costly array and beautiful tapestry
and palatial residence any more than
he will excuse that which crawls, a
biotch or sores. through the lowest eel
lar. Ever and anon. through some law.
suit. there flashes upon the people OF
our great cities what is TRANSPORTING in
seemingly respectable circles You call