1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



351 



Qm peMEg. 



Owe no man any thing', lint to love one another; 

 for he that loveth another hath t'nlfllled the law.— 

 Rom. 13:8. 



T HAVE often wanted to talk on this sub- 

 m- -i^^'^ ^'^ lieing in debt, or getting in debt, 

 W if yon choose ; but, dear friends, I have 

 '^ been a little afraid to undertake it. Do 

 you know why I am afraid V Well, I am 

 afraid I should not be able to so prepare my- 

 self that I should be entirely free from prej- 

 udice, that I could speak in an unbiased way. 

 1 am interested, as it were, and perhaps on 

 that account I could not handle the subject 

 in a way that would do the good it might if 

 it came from a minister, or some one who is 

 not in active business as I am. May be the 

 feeling has been a wrong one, and that I am 

 am just the one to speak, because I have had 

 such great and varied experience in this 

 matter of debt and credit. I have prayed 

 that God might purify my heart, and free 

 me from luicharitableness or i)iide, or any 

 thing else that might stand in the way o"f 

 making this Home i)aper a helpful one ; and 

 as I start out, I breathe again that little 

 prayer now : ''Lord, help thyservant. that he 

 may, especially in this talk to-day, sliadow 

 forth thine image, and in his own feelile way 

 thy great love to all liuin:uiity. and may he 

 have thy love toward all his fellow-men.'' 



There are some who people think it wrong 

 to get into debt. I remember a good old 

 gentleman who gave me some very excellent 

 advice once. He had got to be ([uite a rich 

 man, and yet had so persistently paid cash 

 down for every thing, that he rarely if ever 

 went to sleep at night with the" feeling 

 that he owed any man a copper. At one 

 time when the grocer could not make change, 

 he said he took a pound of tea without pay- 

 ing for it. The thought so troubled him 

 during the night, he went on foot several 

 miles the next morning just to discharge the 

 debt, and then his conscience was at ease 

 again. There was something a little incon- 

 sistent with this good old friend, however, 

 for he made a business of loaning money to 

 other people. In fact, I went to see him 

 with my father, to l)orrow some money to 

 start in business. He advised me to go back 

 home and start in business as best I could, 

 without borrowing money. I did so, and I 

 thank him to-day for his advice just at that 

 crisis. I soon got in debt, however, for all 

 that; but it was a debt for goods, and not 

 for borrowed money. As time passed on I 

 found I could buy" to better advantage by 

 having ready casli. Since then I havebeeii 

 paying interest on borrowed money almost 

 all my life, and I think it is in manyrespects 

 a good thing to do. Many times 1 "liave tak- 

 en money that people were very anxious to 

 let out. "Very many times I borrowed mon- 

 ey from widows who luul families to sup- 

 port, and I think J did tliem a kindness by 

 paying them interest promptly. I suppose 

 you ail agree to what I iiavel)een saying. If 

 so, where is the evil, if evil there is, in get- 

 ting in debt V 



Many of our sins and weaknesses are of a 

 class where th<^i'^ ^n'f' extremes both ways. 



One may talk about his neighbors too much, 

 and one may talk about them not enough ; 

 one may be too suspicious of his fellow-men, 

 and he may go to the other extreme and be 

 too confiding on short acquaintance. Is it 

 not so about getting in debt '? If so, where 

 is the dividing line? where do the greatest 

 number of people err— in being too much 

 afraid of owing somebody tifty cents over 

 night, like the friend of whom I have told 

 you, or do they err in borrowing, or getting 

 in debt wdien it would have l)eeii much bet- 

 ter to have gone without the thing they had 

 not the money to pay for V We err (^f tenest 

 in buying that which we do not need. Is it 

 not so, friends V Especially do voung people 

 err in this direction. If vou otter a l)ov or a 

 girl credit witliout stint, a l)ad use will al- 

 most always be made of it; and, indeed, you 

 may do them a great harm by lending tliem 

 iuoiie>' they are very anxious to borrow, or 

 by giving way to tlieir importmiities to let 

 them have something on credit. Most of us 

 can look back and remember how greatly 

 hurt we were when somebody refused tb 

 trust us in that way ; but for all that, it is 

 likely the person who i-efused did us a great 

 kindness. 



In our recent Sunday - school lesson, Paul 

 tells us how a t'hristiafi should behave him- 

 self. He says he suffers long, and is kind; 

 envies not ; is not puffed up ; does not behave 

 badly ; is not easily provoked ; bears all 

 things; believes all things; hopes all things ; 

 and endures all tilings. We admire those 

 beautiful verses, and all the world bows down 

 in assent to tlieir trutlifulness as well as 

 beauty. How ought a Cliristian to do in re- 

 gard to this matter of debt and credit ? Our 

 opening text says you should owe no man 

 any thing Init love one to another, and a 

 Christian should surely have love to those he 

 does business with, no matter how they be- 

 have. Wlien lie is lending or borrowing', the 

 great animating object of his love should be 

 to do good. If by borrowing he can do good, 

 borrow ; if l)y leiiding he can do good, lend ; 

 but he should always beware of doing any 

 thing that may do hivrm, even though he be 

 importuned never so much, and even though 

 he would rather give the money over and 

 over rather than be obliged to refuse. 



I have, during my business experience, 

 known many times what it was to need mon- 

 ey badly ; I have racked my brain, and 

 scraped up my available effects ; I have sold 

 property at a sacrifice, and I have many times 

 l^rayed that (^od would help me to secure 

 the amount I needed to i)ay sonu^hing I was 

 owing, so J know what it is to l)e in a strait 

 for money. I have also refused to let some 

 of my valued friends have money, or I have 

 refusVd to help get it for them Avhen I 

 thought I had good reasons for thinking it 

 would do them harm instead of good. Dur- 

 ing the i)ast few years I have tried to do all 

 this, and yet avoid having anybody say or 

 even thiid-L I was a poor s]iecimeii of a Chris- 

 tian because I ix'rformed tlu'seditlicidt tasks 

 in a ]>oor way. How shall we as Christians 

 manage witii wisdom this essential element 

 in business V I will tell you, friends, a rule 

 I have been slowly forming for my rule of 

 conduct in these matters, especially in this 



