Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-03-31

into temptation. II n brother has no
money and no security do not teach
hin. Row to be criminally reckless with
capital not his own
The Greatest Danger.
The indorse~'S trap may not only en-.
danger the i.sorser. but also the IN.
dorser's loved ones and the indorsee
as well Ralph Erstine once said,
There Is no devil so bad as no devil. -
That means. Interpreted In plain Eng.
fish, There Is no tempta ton so dan.
gerous rs where one does not expec,
TO find temptation" But I do no,
see how Ralph Erskine's words can
be applied TO my text. for see dan.
gers everywhere lowering about the
indorser's trap. l find them here for
the man who sets the trcp. I find then,
Tor the person whose fingers held the
pen which Is caught in. the trap
md them for all the dear ones ON both
sides or the indorser aud the indorsee
Every argument that can be urged
against the cause OF willfully running
into debt may be applied here TO the
sin OF indiscrimlnate Endorsement.
But man TO become security for
4 :. VI Oi QOcS hot
necessarily have TO sign a note for
money. He can give to an acauaint-
ance n letter or Recommendation. That
letter may be OF more value than
money. When Ulysses s. Grant form.
cd his famous Wall street partnership
with Ferdinand Ward he did not put
into that irm much money. Though he
had been lieutenant general and twice
president OF the United States, he never
had much money. He lived and died
poor man. But be had more than
money. He gave Ferdinand Ward a
financial standing In the business com
munity and The confidence OF The pub
lie. The multitude of admirers OF the
hero OF Appomattox poured their
wealth into bis ONCE. As result
Ward was able TO cheat the trustful
public out OF Its hundreds OF thou
sands. For the crime OF that misap-
proprietion Ward was sent to prison.
/ What Ulysses s. Grant did for FerdI.
nand Ward some OF as on a small scale
have been Going for our friends and
| acquaintance. IL man is out OF a
position and wants help we say. "Sil-
yer and gold have none, but such as
have give unto thee" This, however.
Is not the gift Of grace. but Of a false
letter Of recommendation. We fire.
quently give such letters of recon-
mendation when we know that the
men to whom we give them are in
competent or at least unknown to us.
and the result is that there are thou
sands OF frauds being perpetrated all
over the country not because bad men
are instigating them-there are bad
men everywhere-but because good
men have allowed their names to be
linked to those frauds carelessIy. And
there are thousands OF good men out OF
the positions In Hfe which they are
qualified to ill merely because medic
ere and Incompetent men for friend
ships sake have been pushed into those
positions by what Is commonly termed
a pull" My brother, never be secu-
rfty for a friend unless you are first
sure that what you recommend by let
ter Is ''the truth. the whole truth and
nothing but the truth"
Postmortena Lsudasisn.
But my text has even n wider sveep
IL men desplse those for whom we un-
wisely have become sureties they are
apt to despise us also, and IL they learn
to despise us they are very apt to learn
TO despise the religion we represent.
for, say what you will. every unfaith.
ful Christian is representative, how
ever sadly delinquent. OF the God in
whom he processes to believe. We are.
or should be. the lights OF the world
the cities set upon a hill, which
cannot be hid. IL we are unfaithful In
our dealings with others our faith
iessness reflects on religion and Is IN
offense against God himself. This fact
Is never better demonstrated than
when minister is untrue TO his Divine
Master and his sacred calling At the
public funeral OF a worldly man or a
worldly woman sometimes In order to
give comfort to the living n minister
will try to smooth things over, though
the dead man may have been an ex-
tortioner. n drunkard, libertine. a
gambler or despiser OF the church OF
the Lord Jesus Christ or course we
should speak no evil OF the dead. and
IL Is not necessary that any one should
cause pain by reflections at a funeral,
but surely there is a limit to postmor-
tenn laudation. Yet he Will talk about
twelve gated gospel. He will say
there was pardon for Paul. who was
the chief OF sinners. and therefore there
Is pardon for US. He will not quote
the passage. Except ye repent ye shall
all likewise perish" but he will talk
from the text. God is love-" and he
will try TO make people believe that the
unrepentant soul has entered through
the paradisaicai gates Bot tell you,
my brother. even with the men OF the
world II won't so down. IL we dishon-
or ourselves by trying 20 become n
surety for our friends we dlshonor God
also
once heard a minister dlshonor God
In this way: Many years ago out IN
the country a person Of evil life was
buried. That life had been wholly n
worldly life. but In order to please the
relatives. who were members OF his
church. the minister whitewashed the
record, and. though the dead had died.
as fur as we knew, unrepentant. the
indulgent speaker opened the gates Of
heaven and had the departed living fn
the whitest mansion nearest to the
great white throne. After the service
was ended man OF the world said to
me: What does that minister mean by
talking like thati III heaven Is for
such one. then am sure OF reaching
there. biasphemer as am" No. nv
friends, you cannot be untrue In your
commendatiops or Recommendation
without mt the same time dishonoring
him Of whom you as Christians stand
before the world as the representa-
tives.
would beseech OF you, therefore, in
the smallest details OF your life al
ways remember you are the representa-
tives Of Jesus Christ. Spurgeon once
said. Many horses fan at the bottom
Of a hill because the driver thinks the
danger past and the need to hold the
reins with Arm grip less pressing"
Many men lose their Christian disciple