Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1903-02-20

Will you help meT' What was the
cause of that young mans downfall?
The extravagant life his father led and
the life he allowed his children TO lead.
While that boy was growing up he
could have anything he wanted that
money could buy. His father sent him
on pleasure trips across the sea and
willingly paid all his bills; then, when
his father died, Joe and his sisters
were heiplesSly stranded. They had
the tastes and desires of millionaires;
they had the empty pockets of paupers.
Preparations for such tragedies are be-
ing enacted today by selfish men all
round the world. AS long as these
wickedly foolish fathers can satisfy
their present wants they care not what
may become OF their children after
they are gone. Every wise father
should teach his children that the red
breasted oriole of gold has wings swift
or than the winds When 1t is gone, II
is very hard to overtake and to bring
back. He should train each child TO be
able to earn a livelihood independent OF
any money he may bcqueath to that
child.
Well Dressed Villain.
Willful Debt is often a well dressed
villain who pretends to be an honest
man. In olden times If a man could
not pay his debts he was looked upon
in the same sense as a thief and sent
TO Jail. Under the old Roman law,
after spending a certain time I'm Jail, II
he was still unable TO pay his creditors,
he was sold into slavery and had to
pass his life as n serf. Some one might
say that such condition is very hard
and unjust. and so IL is. But, In many
cases. when a man will deliberately
enter store and run up q heavy bill,
which he has no intention OF paying,
he is just as much a robber as the
sneak thief who rushes into the bakery
and steals loaf of bread, and be
should have little mercy shown to him.
The debtor not only steals the grocery
mans goods, but he steals his time and
his service.
Many man who for years has de-
liberately run up all the debts he can
is today walking around our streets
claiming that I'm the sight OF the law
he is honest. After deliberately swim.
ding all the men he could he puts the
little money he had left In his wife'a
name. Then he enters the bankruptcy
court and asks the judge to free him
from all these financial obligations.
Now, ] care not what the bankruptcy
court may say In such cases, no honest
man, in the sight of God or man, can
ever be morally freed from q financial
debt until that debt is paid. 1t is a
mans business to pay what he owes,
M ma tor hoy 4ho ~
One of the first signs of Zacch@us' real
conversion was when he turned to the
Saviour and said, Behold, Lord, the
half Of my goods I give to the poor,
and If have taken anything from any
man by false accusation / restore to
him fourfold." In other words he said,
eff have cheated any man out of his
just dues, l am ready not only to re-
store to him the full amount of money
taken, but will restore to him double
and treble and quadruple that which /
have taken" And no man, in the sight
of God, can be a Christian until he first
signifies his intention to repay to the
utmost of his ability all the money
borrowed by him and to cancel his full
obligations to every one of his financial
at the same time signify willingness
to cheat your fellow men.
1t is told of Daniel Webster that
James 7. Field, the famous publisher,
when a young clerk, was sent to col
lect bill from the great constitutional
lawyer Mr.. Webster turned to him
and said: young man, have no mon
ey. 1 never can pay my debts. What
is the good of your coming around and
bothering me? See here is my money
drawer; there is nothing In it." With
that Mr.. Webster opened the drawer,
and, 10, revealed within was q big roll
| OF banknotesi Mr.. Webster's face light
ed up with a look OF great surprise.
"Well, well!" he said. There is some
money. wonder where 1t came from ?
Young man, help yourself" With that
Mr.. Webster turned his back upon
young Field and buried his face in n
lawbook. Mr.. Field helped himself,
signed n receipt and left the room, and
Mr.. Webster did not look up for one
moment to see what he was doing.
Daniel Webster may have been great
statesman, but he was not n business
man. He had no moro right TO ignore
his creditors like that than he had to
sell his vote In the United States SEN
ate. And before God and man we have
no right TO run up a lot Of bills which
we have no intention of canoeing.
lowe no man anything wrote the
greatest preacher who ever lived. That
means pay your butcher and baker
bills and rent just as faithfully as you
| ought to pay for your church pew or
| your dues to the missionary societies.
A Pertinent Question.
| In closing I would like to ask my
hearers pertinent Question--ls not
the chief reason why you are unwilling
to publicly profess Christ because you
have not been living right with your
fellow men and trying to pay your hon.
est debts? DIR. Wilbur Chapman, i
think it was, once told this incident in
a great evangelisuc meeting. For some
weeks there was among the audience
to whom he had been preaching man
who would not confess Christ. DIR.
Chapman could not understand why.
But one night this man came to his
hotel room and said: Doctor, is there
help for me? l am defaulter. i
| stole so many thousand dollars from
my employers many years ago. They
have never found 1t out. What shall
/ do?" DR.. Chapman told the man to
go back to his old employers and to
confess, and fully confess, what he
| had done. Then DR.. Chapman told