July 15, 1911 



much happiness; and tlien I ])raye(l, too, 

 that the Holy Spirit would direct me in tlie 

 use of my time and talents for the few years 

 T have yet to spend on earth. Well, the 

 answer came very soon, and there was a 

 further answer to something I had not pray- 

 ed abo't. I was planning in the morning 

 to get around and talk with some of my 

 neighbors, and ask them what the prospects 

 were in that region for advances in the val- 

 ues of real estate, etc. The answer came, 

 prompted by the Holy S])i"it, as 1 verily be- 

 lieve, something in this way: 



The old propliets used to put their mes- 

 sages in words, prefacing them by a "thus 

 saith the Lord." Dear friends, may I take 

 the liberty of tailing you what the Holy 

 Spirit said to me or impressed on my mind? 

 It was something like this: 



"Mr. Root, you have been all your life, or 

 for the greater part of it, seeking to get the 

 ' best end ' of every bargain. When you 

 have had any thing to sell, you have been 

 all your life selling to the best advantage, 

 as a rule. When you have bought any 

 thing, you have in like manner taken time 

 to see where you could get it clieapest. Ad- 

 mitting that there have been some excep- 

 tions to the above, is it not true that you 

 have so far been looking out for the "best 

 end of every bargain? Now, is it not about 

 time that you ' let up ' on this planning and 

 working for A. I. Boot/ In the case before 

 us, there is a difiference of $150. Who needs 

 the $150 more — you or your good neighbor, 

 who, you know, has been a hard-working 

 woman all her life? Who needs the $150 

 more — you or she? W^ould you not feel a 

 little better about it if you were to go and 

 tell her in the morning you have decided to 

 let her have the property for $1350, and that 

 you would not take the trouble to inquire 

 whether somebody else would make you a 

 better offer or not?" 



And I then on my knees decided I would 

 do so; and I felt happier right away than 

 the $150 could possibly have made me; and 

 as a result I kept praying that the Holy 

 Spirit would point out more of my errors 

 and inconsistencies, and help me for the fu- 

 ture to lead a more consecrated life. And 

 while I prayed, memory went back and 

 showed me a glim))se of my own selfishness 

 in past years that I never liad before. It 

 semed as if my life had turned into a sort 

 of moving-picture show; and among other 

 +hings that the Holy Spiritshowed up strong- 

 er and clearer was that I, the author of these 

 Home papers, had not always been as truth- 

 ful as I might have been. In getting the 

 best end of the countless number of bargains 

 I have made through my busy life, many 

 and many a time I have not adhered to the 

 strict truth as closely as I might liave done. 

 WHiile I uttered no falsehood, I have, per- 

 haps, unconsciously dwelt on the advantages 

 of the things I had to dispose of, and kept 

 still in regard to the disadvantages. I tell 

 you, friends, it is a hard thing to do, in 

 pushing a business of any kind, to consider 

 the interests and needs of your neighbor. 



443 



with whom you are trading, just exactly as 

 much as to consider the interests and needs 

 of yourself. It is sometimes almost like 

 ])uriing teeth to do this. I know, for I have 

 had some experience since that evening 

 when I knelt and prayed (perhaps for the 

 last time) in that dear old cabin in the 

 woods. 



.lust now Billy Sunday is reaping great 

 rewards in the way of leading men to Christ; 

 and the best evidence I have of the divine 

 character of his work is that these new con- 

 verts, at least in many cases, set about lead- 

 ing a new life by making good their past 

 shortcomings. One convert who came for- 

 ward, with tears running down his cheeks, 

 started out in the new life by going to a res- 

 taurant and )3aying for three meals which 

 he had but did not pay for. What would 

 be the result if all mankind would start out 

 with the determination to give their neigh- 

 bors, perhaps not the best end, but a fair and 

 generous end of every bargain? Why, it 

 would be heaven in this world of ours. 

 Years ago I bargained with a farmer for some 

 bees. He described them as well as he could, 

 and I agreed to pay him a certain price for 

 them. After he got here with the bees they 

 were so much better than I had been led to 

 expect that I gave him a dollar more for 

 each hive of bees than I agreed to. He 

 went up to the bank to get his check 

 cashed, and told the bankers my way of 

 doing business, and asked them if they 

 ever heard of such a thing before. My 

 good friend the cashier, to whom I referred 

 but a few numbers back^the man who 

 wrote me that letter of caution — said, "Well, 

 Mr. A., we have heard of such things a good 

 many times with the A. I. Root Co. That 

 is their way of doing business; and it is one 

 of the secrets of the way in which that in- 

 stitution is so rapidly growing and building 

 up." 



Now, friends, do not think I am boasting 

 because I have mentioned the above. When 

 that picture-show of my life ran before me 

 on the screen in the darkness while I was 

 praying, I caught a glimpse of that transac- 

 tion and a few others like it; but these were 

 only occasional glimpses, I am sorry to say, 

 in the panorama of my past busy life. In 

 answer to my prayer for plain truth, the 

 Holy Spirit gave me picture after picture of 

 self, self, self. It became so painfully mo- 

 notonous that I almost sickened at the 

 sight. And then I remembered something 

 I had heard of Professor Fairchild, who 

 built up Oberlin College. He told us that 

 once, in answer to prayer, the Holy Spirit 

 gave him a glimpse of the depravity and 

 selfishness of his own life that it almost 

 sickened him. He said he spent the great- 

 er part of one night on his knees in contem- 

 plating his own sinfulness. 



Let us consider for a moment the effect 

 on humanity — on our own nation if you 

 choose — if every man, woman, and child 

 who are living under the stars and stripes 

 should suddenly take a notion to consider 

 their neighbors' interests as well as their 



