Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1903-06-27

course DAYS heightened into nights.
and he became much engrOSsed in his
business; all of which was proper,
save that one could see that another
motive seemed to possess him; be be
came money-maker. While he was
the first to deny it, unccnsclousIJ TO
himself he made the dollar mark the
measure of his success. 1t required no
special insight to discover the change
which came over his religious life, and
the work he formerly did: to some ex-
tent he followed the old path, but in
an entirely different spirit; a sense OF
honor was his, but a sense of love for
the things which formerly possessed
him was gradually disappearing. One
could see that he came to his religious
engagements in q perfunctory man
ner; when his work was done, it was
done! He left it until he came up to
| it the next time. Singularly, he seemed
to blame other folks for lifelessness
in the work which had been intrusted
to him; but he did not see that it was
his own fault. One trembles at his
prosperity, for the dollar-mark is the
measure of ideals; that he will stoutly
deny it has no bearing on the ease
whatever.
This sis no plea for poverty; there is
not one religious qualification in be-
ing poor; the Bible does not exalt pow
erty TO q virtue; those who take vows
of poverty" can find no defense for it
in the Scriptures. The Bible does not
say that riches are sinful; it. simply
points out the danger which riches in
volye; they that will be rich fall into
divers snares. 1t is the paralyzing
effects of greed that are emphasized in
these warnings. But riches may be
great blessings to those who possess
them, both for their own develop
ment and for the good they may do.
The man who said that it was a sin to
die rich did not draw his conclusions
from the Bible; if his riches were hon
estly gained, he did not need to be
ashamed if he died rich-proyided also,
he was rich toward God. If his riches
were not honestly gained, there could
be no virtue in giving all away just be-
fore his death-Heaven does not recE-
on much on the money gifts of men,
save as those gifts represent love for
the needy and for the Maste who said:
''Inasmuch." No man can atone for q
life Of double dealing by an old age Of
philanthropy.
1t seems unnecessary to try to an
swer the question: What should be the
measure of success? for the reason
that we all know it; and that to en-
large upon it would be like preaching
which is always out of place in a
newspaper article. Yet the old truth
may be emphasized: The measure CT
greatness is goodness; character
marks the achievement of man.
whether he has a dollar or ten thou
sand The dollar mark has nothing
Whatever to do with a successful life
That is commercial heresy, of course,
but | will risk it. [ know mother
who lived successful life. who died
without dollar; [ know any number
of such mothers who could rank with
an archangel in purity of motive, who
died poor. And as for fathers. the
world is full of struggling old men, who
are poor, whom men call failures, WHO
will stand in the first rank in the king
som, where dollar marks are not
weighed in the final judgment. None of
us can afford to make a dollar at
the expense of anything but thrift:
none of us can afford to make money
at the expense of love and devotion to
God, of service in the kingdom. To
merchant, as well as to mechanic,
the words of Jesus apply equally:
Seek ye first the kingdom Of God
Let no man excuse himself by saying
that he will give himself to money
making to-day, and to the service Ct
the kingdom tomorrow That to-mor-
row never comes. The ''kingdom'' must
be first to-day. Whenever anything
else is first. man is on the wrong
road. And in the measure Of his earn
estness and devotion to his earlier
days will be the grief to heart breakino
in the later days, when he sits down t o
contemplate the dollar mark, which
has swallowed up everything else in
his life