Year: 1869

Mr.. Beecher preached in Plymouth
Church, sermon bearing on the recent
gambling operations in Wall street. he
read his text from Matthew, 9th chapter,
10Th and 10th verses:


Lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon earth, where moth and rust doth cor
rode, and where thieves break through and
steal; But lay up for yourselves treasures
in.heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break
through and steal"


The desire to lay up property is dis
tlnguishing difference between the human
and animal nature. Up to certain point
the pursuit of fwealth is made by Providence
means for obtaining happiness and pros
perlty- There is general impression
among men that riches can make one per-
1eetly happy if they are not misused-
Oothers think that they alone are not cap
able OF making man truly happy. So
they are beginning to think over the way
Qn Wall street,. Some of the best men
on this continent are found in New York,
Boston, Philadelphia and in Washington
The nearer man lives to hell, if he is
good, the better he is There are as good
men In Wall street as ever breathed, but
they don't walk in platoons. 1t means
something for virtuous man to be upright
IN the midst of temptation. Many of you
are here while the banks are closed, and
you agree with the gospel that riches are
good while they do not 90 higher than the
pocket. People listen to sermons with great
interest on Sunday, but the next day they
ridicule them, and not unfrequently they
say, "My minister told me that riches make
men unhappy; well, think that l can
bear great many troubles for half a
million. | know that the pursuit of wealth
Lord does not teach that to seek riches is
wicked, but that the lovers of truth and
happiness cannot be filled by riches alone.
The divine commandment is: First. seek
the Kingdom of Heaven, and all the rest
shall be added The treasures spoken of
by Christ are not such treasures as men
run after in Wall street They are not left
behind when We leave this world, but they
always go with US. Death is great slrainer
and all Of the riches OF men are left at the
grave. Neither gold nor the appetites can
be carried through. Men walk as kings
down to the dust, but as beggars thereafter
Reason is a part of immortality, and it will
extend beyond the portals of death As
we have trained the mind here, so we shall
begin with it in the other life No person
who has ever made his higher nature re-
splendent here will ever lose it in the world
to come. 1t is impossible for a man to
hide his good works, even on earth. He
might as well attempt to put the sun in a
dark lantern. Aspiration is vital. 1t is
that which tends to make a thought larger,
to lead a man higher, and it is eternal
Love, however, is the great treasure house
of God and man. 1t fills the universe
There is no hell that can hold love, and
even God himself cannot make love miser-
able. Wherever love exists there is heaven.
No thieves get there, and where there are
no thieves there is certainly heaven
Those who seek the baseness of this earth
have no room for heaven They give The
noblest part of their nature for the things
which are corrupt. You abhor the men
who have the orphans portion in trust and
sell it for their own aggrandizement Yet
you do things just as bad When you sell
the noblest part Of your nature you are
Judas. When you varnish man with
smiles, that you may enrich yourself at his
expense, you sell yourself for thirty pieces
of silver. What can man gain that ex-
changes the purity of his own soul for gold?
Large bells are always poorly cast, ard
sooner or later they crack. Our overgrown
rich men are like these big bells, full of
flaws, and they soon lose all the sweetness
they ever possessed. Death is Gods bank
rupt court, where men are cleared of their
debts and of their riches, and when they
go through the gate opening into the other
life they have not enough to pay the fer
riage over In closing, Mr. Beecher said !:
| do not say these things professionally,
nor do | preach because it is my business
| do it because | want to-for the reason
that the birds want to sing. l would
preach, salary or no salary, whether the
audience was large or small | speak to
you as friend Of these things that init
mately concern your happiness here and
hereafter.