,,altemus' ,,eternal ,,life ,,series4 ,selections from the writings of well-known religious authors' works1 beautifully printed and daintily bound in leatherette with original designs in silver and ink4 ,,price1 #be ,,cents ,,per ,,volume4 ,,eternal ,,life1 by ,professor ,henry ,drummond4 ,,lord1 ,,teach ,,us ,,to ,,pray1 by ,rev4 ,andrew ,murray4 ,,god',s ,,word ,,and ,,god',s ,,work1 by ,martin ,luther4 ,,faith1 by ,thomas ,arnold4 ,,the ,,creation ,,story1 by ,honorable ,william ,e4 ,gladstone4 ,,the ,,message ,,of ,,comfort1 by ,rt4 ,rev4 ,ashton ,oxenden4 ,,the ,,message ,,of ,,peace1 by ,rev4 ,r4 ,w4 ,church4 ,,the ,,lord',s ,,prayer ,,and ,,the ,,ten ,,commandments1 by ,dean ,stanley4 ,,the ,,memoirs ,,of ,,jesus1 by ,rev4 ,robert ,f4 ,horton4 ,,hymns ,,of ,,praise ,,and ,,gladness1 by ,elisabeth ,r4 ,scovil4 ,,difficulties1 by ,hannah ,whitall ,smith4 ,,gamblers ,,and ,,gambling1 by ,rev4 ,henry ,ward ,beecher4 ,,have ,,faith ,,in ,,god1 by ,rev4 ,andrew ,murray4 ,,twelve ,,causes ,,of ,,dishonesty1 by ,rev4 ,henry ,ward ,beecher4 ,,the ,,christ ,,in ,,whom ,,christians ,,believe1 by ,rt4 ,rev4 ,phillips ,brooks4 ,,in ,,my ,,name1 by ,rev4 ,andrew ,murray4 ,,six ,,warnings1 by ,rev4 ,henry ,ward ,beecher4 ,,the ,,duty ,,of ,,the ,,christian ,,business ,,man1 by ,rt4 ,rev4 ,phillips ,brooks4 ,,popular ,,amusements1 by ,rev4 ,henry ,ward ,beecher4 ,,true ,,liberty1 by ,rt4 ,rev4 ,phillips ,brooks4 ,,industry ,,and ,,idleness1 by ,rev4 ,henry ,ward ,beecher4 ,,the ,,beauty ,,of ,a ,,life ,,of ,,service1 by ,rt4 ,rev4 ,phillips ,brooks4 ,,the ,,second ,,coming ,,of ,,our ,,lord1 by ,rev4 ,a4 ,t4 ,pierson1 ,d4,d4 ,,thought ,,and ,,action1 by ,rt4 ,rev4 ,phillips ,brooks4 ,,the ,,heavenly ,,vision1 by ,rev4 ,f4 ,b4 ,meyer4 ,,morning ,,strength1 by ,elisabeth ,r4 ,scovil4 ,,for ,,the ,,quiet ,,hour1 by ,edith ,v4 ,bradt4 ,,evening ,,comfort1 by ,elisabeth ,r4 ,scovil4 ,,words ,,of ,,help ,,for ,,christian ,,girls1 by ,rev4 ,f4 ,b4 ,meyer4 ,,how ,,to ,,study ,,the ,,bible1 by ,rev4 ,dwight ,l4 ,moody4 ,,expectation ,,corner1 by ,e4 ,s4 ,elliot4 ,,jessica',s ,,first ,,prayer1 by ,hesba ,stretton4 ,,henry ,,altemus1 #ejg1 #eji1 #eaa1 #eah ,cherry ,street1 ,philadelphia4 ,illustration3 ,,henry ,,ward ,,beecher4 ,twelve ,causes of ,dishonesty ,by ,rev4 ,henry ,ward ,beecher ,philadelphia ,henry ,altemus ,,copyrighted #ahif ,,by ,,henry ,,altemus ,,henry ,,altemus1 ,,manufacturer ,,philadelphia ,,twelve ,,causes ,,of ,,dishonesty ,only extraordinary circumstances can give the appearance of dishonesty to an honest man4 ,usually1 not to seem honest1 is not to be so4 ,the quality must not be doubtful like twilight1 lingering between night and day and taking hues from both2 it must be day-light1 clear1 and effulgent4 ,this is the doctrine of the ,bible3 ,providing for honest things1 not only in the sight of the ,lord1 ,,but ,,also ,,in ,,the ,,sight ,,of ,,men4 ,in general it may be said that no one has honesty without dross1 until he has honesty without suspicion4 ,we are passing through times upon which the seeds of dishonesty have been sown broadcast1 and they have brought forth a hundred-fold4 ,these times will pass away2 but like ones will come again4 ,as physicians study the causes and record the phenomena of plagues and pestilences1 to draw from them an antidote against their recurrence1 so should we leave to another generation a history of moral plagues1 as the best antidote to their recurring malignity4 ,upon a land1--capacious beyond measure1 whose prodigal soil rewards labor with an unharvestable abundance of exuberant fruits1 occupied by a people signalized by enterprise and industry--there came a summer of prosperity which lingered so long and shone so brightly1 that men forgot that winter could ever come4 ,each day grew brighter4 ,no reins were put upon the imagination4 ,its dreams passed for realities4 ,even sober men1 touched with wildness1 seemed to expect a realization of oriental tales4 ,upon this bright day came sudden frosts1 storms1 and blight4 ,men awoke from gorgeous dreams in the midst of desolation4 ,the harvests of years were swept away in a day4 ,the strongest firms were rent as easily as the oak by lightning4 ,speculating companies were dispersed as seared leaves from a tree in autumn4 ,merchants were ruined by thousands2 clerks turned adrift by ten thousands4 ,mechanics were left in idleness4 ,farmers sighed over flocks and wheat as useless as the stones and dirt4 ,the wide sea of commerce was stagnant2 upon the realm of ,industry settled down a sullen lethargy4 ,out of this reverse swarmed an unnumbered host of dishonest men1 like vermin from a carcass4 ,banks were exploded1--or robbed1--or fleeced by astounding forgeries4 ,mighty companies1 without cohesion1 went to pieces1 and hordes of wretches snatched up every bale that came ashore4 ,cities were ransacked by troops of villains4 ,the unparalleled frauds1 which sprung like mines on every hand1 set every man to trembling lest the next explosion should be under his own feet4 ,fidelity seemed to have forsaken men4 ,many that had earned a reputation for sterling honesty were cast so suddenly headlong into wickedness1 that man shrank from man4 ,suspicion overgrew confidence1 and the heart bristled with the nettles and thorns of fear and jealousy4 ,then had almost come to pass the divine delineation of ancient wickedness3 ,the good man is perished out of the earth3 and there is none upright among men3 they all lie in wait for blood2 they hunt every man his brother with a net4 ,that they may do evil with both hands earnestly1 the prince and the judge ask for a reward3 and the great man uttereth his mischievous desire2 so they wrap it up4 ,the best of them is a brier2 the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge4 ,the world looked upon a continent of inexhaustible fertility1 7whose harvest had glutted the markets1 and rotted in disuse17 filled with lamentation1 and its inhabitants wandering like bereaved citizens among the ruins of an earthquake1 mourning for children1 for houses crushed1 and property buried forever4 ,that no measure might be put to the calamity1 the ,church of ,god1 which rises a stately tower of refuge to desponding men1 seemed now to have lost its power of protection4 ,when the solemn voice of ,religion should have gone over the land1 as the call of ,god to guilty man to seek in him their strength2 in this time when ,religion should have restored sight to the blind1 made the lame to walk1 and bound up the broken-hearted1 she was herself mourning in sackcloth4 ,out of her courts came the noise of warring sects2 some contending against others with bitter warfare2 and some1 possessed of a demon1 wallowed upon the ground foaming and rending themselves4 ,in a time of panic1 and disaster1 and distress1 and crime1 the fountain which should have been for the healing of men1 cast up its sediments1 and gave out a bitter stream of pollution4 ,in every age1 an universal pestilence has hushed the clamor of contention1 and cooled the heats of parties2 but the greatness of our national calamity seemed only to enkindle the fury of political parties4 ,contentions never ran with such deep streams and impetuous currents1 as amidst the ruin of our industry and prosperity4 ,states were greater debtors to foreign nations1 than their citizens were to each other4 ,both states and citizens shrunk back from their debts1 and yet more dishonestly from the taxes necessary to discharge them4 ,the ,general ,government did not escape1 but lay becalmed1 or pursued its course1 like a ship1 at every furlong touching the rocks1 or beating against the sands4 ,the ,capitol trembled with the first waves of a question which is yet to shake the whole land4 ,new questions of exciting qualities perplexed the realm of legislation1 and of morals4 ,to all this must be added a manifest decline of family government2 an increase of the ratio of popular ignorance2 a decrease of reverence for law1 and an effeminate administration of it4 ,popular tumults have been as frequent as freshets in our rivers2 and like them1 have swept over the land with desolation1 and left their filthy slime in the highest places3--upon the press2--upon the legislature2--in the halls of our courts2--and even upon the sacred bench of ,justice4 ,if unsettled times foster dishonesty1 it should have flourished among us4 ,and it has4 ,our nation must expect a periodical return of such convulsions2 but experience should steadily curtail their ravages1 and remedy their immoral tendencies4 ,young men have before them lessons of manifold wisdom taught by the severest of masters--experience4 ,they should be studied2 and that they may be1 ,i shall1 from this general survey1 turn to a specific enumeration of the causes of dishonesty4 #a4 ,some men find in their bosom from the first1 a vehement inclination to dishonest ways4 ,knavish propensities are inherent3 born with the child and transmissible from parent to son4 ,the children of a sturdy thief1 if taken from him at birth and reared by honest men1 would1 doubtless1 have to contend against a strongly dishonest inclination4 ,foundlings and orphans under public charitable charge1 are more apt to become vicious than other children4 ,they are usually born of low and vicious parents1 and inherit their parents' propensities4 ,only the most thorough moral training can overrule this innate depravity4 #b4 ,a child naturally fair-minded1 may become dishonest by parental example4 ,he is early taught to be sharp in bargains1 and vigilant for every advantage4 ,little is said about honesty1 and much upon shrewd traffic4 ,a dexterous trick1 becomes a family anecdote2 visitors are regaled with the boy's precocious keenness4 ,hearing the praise of his exploits1 he studies craft1 and seeks parental admiration by adroit knaveries4 ,he is taught1 for his safety1 that he must not range beyond the law3 that would be unprofitable4 ,he calculates his morality thus3 ,legal honesty is the best policy1--dishonesty1 then1 is a bad bargain--and therefore wrong--everything is wrong which is unthrifty4 ,whatever profit breaks no legal statute--though it is gained by falsehood1 by unfairness1 by gloss2 through dishonor1 unkindness1 and an unscrupulous conscience--he considers fair1 and says3 ,the law allows it4 ,men may spend a long life without an indictable action1 and without an honest one4 ,no law can reach the insidious ways of subtle craft4 ,the law allows1 and religion forbids men1 to profit by others' misfortunes1 to prowl for prey among the ignorant1 to over-reach the simple1 to suck the last life-drops from the bleeding2 to hover over men as a vulture over herds1 swooping down upon the weak1 the straggling1 and the weary4 ,the infernal craft of cunning men1 turns the law itself to piracy1 and works outrageous fraud in the hall of ,courts1 by the decision of judges1 and under the seal of ,justice4 #c4 ,dishonesty is learned from one's employers4 ,the boy of honest parents and honestly bred1 goes to a trade1 or a store1 where the employer practises legal frauds4 ,the plain honesty of the boy excites roars of laughter among the better taught clerks4 ,the master tells them that such blundering truthfulness must be pitied2 the boy evidently has been neglected1 and is not to be ridiculed for what he could not help4 ,at first1 it verily pains the youth's scruples1 and tinges his face to frame a deliberate dishonesty1 to finish1 and to polish it4 ,his tongue stammers at a lie2 but the example of a rich master1 the jeers and gibes of shopmates1 with gradual practice1 cure all this4 ,he becomes adroit in fleecing customers for his master's sake1 and equally dexterous in fleecing his master for his own sake4 #d4 ,,extravagance is a prolific source of dishonesty4 ,extravagance1--which is foolish expense1 or expense disproportionate to one's means1--may be found in all grades of society2 but it is chiefly apparent among the rich1 those aspiring to wealth1 and those wishing to be thought affluent4 ,many a young man cheats his business1 by transferring his means to theatres1 race-courses1 expensive parties1 and to the nameless and numberless projects of pleasure4 ,the enterprise of others is baffled by the extravagance of their family2 for few men can make as much in a year as an extravagant woman can carry on her back in one winter4 ,some are ambitious of fashionable society1 and will gratify their vanity at any expense4 ,this disproportion between means and expense soon brings on a crisis4 ,the victim is straitened for money2 without it he must abandon his rank2 for fashionable society remorselessly rejects all butterflies which have lost their brilliant colors4 ,which shall he choose1 honesty and mortifying exclusion1 or gaiety purchased by dishonesty8 ,the severity of this choice sometimes sobers the intoxicated brain2 and a young man shrinks from the gulf1 appalled at the darkness of dishonesty4 ,but to excessive vanity1 high-life with or without fraud1 is ,paradise2 and any other life ,purgatory4 ,here many resort to dishonesty without a scruple4 ,it is at this point that public sentiment half sustains dishonesty4 ,it scourges the thief of ,necessity1 and pities the thief of ,fashion4 ,the struggle with others is on the very ground of honor4 ,a wife led from affluence to frigid penury and neglect2 from leisure and luxury to toil and want2 daughters1 once courted as rich1 to be disesteemed when poor1--this is the gloomy prospect1 seen through a magic haze of despondency4 ,honor1 love and generosity1 strangely bewitched1 plead for dishonesty as the only alternative to such suffering4 ,but go1 young man1 to your wife2 tell her the alternative2 if she is worthy of you1 she will face your poverty with a courage which shall shame your fears1 and lead you into its wilderness and through it1 all unshrinking4 ,many there be who went weeping into this desert1 and ere long1 having found in it the fountains of the purest peace1 have thanked ,god for the pleasures of poverty4 ,but if your wife unmans your resolution1 imploring dishonor rather than penury1 may ,god pity and help you6 ,you dwell with a sorceress1 and few can resist her wiles4 #e4 ,,debt is an inexhaustible fountain of ,dishonesty4 ,the ,royal ,preacher tells us3 ,the borrower is servant to the lender4 ,debt is a rigorous servitude4 ,the debtor learns the cunning tricks1 delays1 concealments1 and frauds1 by which slaves evade or cheat their master4 ,he is tempted to make ambiguous statements2 pledges1 with secret passages of escape2 contracts1 with fraudulent constructions2 lying excuses1 and more mendacious promises4 ,he is tempted to elude responsibility2 to delay settlements2 to prevaricate upon the terms2 to resist equity1 and devise specious fraud4 ,when the eager creditor would restrain such vagrancy by law1 the debtor then thinks himself released from moral obligation1 and brought to a legal game1 in which it is lawful for the best player to win4 ,he disputes true accounts2 he studies subterfuges2 extorts provocatious delays2 and harbors in every nook1 and corner1 and passage1 of the law's labyrinth4 ,at length the measure is filled up1 and the malignant power of debt is known4 ,it has opened in the heart every fountain of iniquity2 it has besoiled the conscience2 it has tarnished the honor2 it has made the man a deliberate student of knavery2 a systematic practitioner of fraud2 it has dragged him through all the sewers of petty passions1--anger1 hate1 revenge1 malicious folly1 or malignant shame4 ,when a debtor is beaten at every point1 and the law will put her screws upon him1 there is no depth in the gulf of dishonesty into which he will not boldly plunge4 ,some men put their property to the flames1 assassinate the detested creditor1 and end the frantic tragedy by suicide1 or the gallows4 ,others1 in view of the catastrophe1 have converted all property to cash1 and concealed it4 ,the law's utmost skill1 and the creditor's fury1 are alike powerless now1--the tree is green and thrifty2 its roots drawing a copious supply from some hidden fountain4 ,craft has another harbor of resort for the piratical crew of dishonesty2 viz43 putting the property out of the law's reach by a fraudulent conveyance4 ,whoever runs in debt1 and consumes the equivalent of his indebtedness2 whoever is fairly liable to damage for broken contracts2 whoever by folly1 has incurred debts and lost the benefit of his outlay2 whoever is legally obliged to pay for his malice or carelessness2 whoever by infidelity to public trusts has made his property a just remuneration for his defaults2--whoever of all these1 or whoever1 under any circumstances1 puts out of his hands property1 morally or legally due to creditors1 is ,a ,,dishonest ,,man4 ,the crazy excuses which men render to their consciences1 are only such as every villain makes1 who is unwilling to look upon the black face of his crimes4 ,he who will receive a conveyance of property1 knowing it to be illusive and fraudulent1 is as wicked as the principal2 and as much meaner1 as the tool and subordinate of villany is meaner than the master who uses him4 ,if a church1 knowing all these facts1 or wilfully ignorant of them1 allows a member to nestle in the security of the sanctuary2 then the act of this robber1 and the connivance of the church1 are but the two parts of one crime4 #f4 ,,bankruptcy1 although a branch of debt1 deserves a separate mention4 ,it sometimes crushes a man's spirit1 and sometimes exasperates it4 ,the poignancy of the evil depends much upon the disposition of the creditors2 and as much upon the disposition of the victim4 ,should they act with the lenity of ,christian men1 and he with manly honesty1 promptly rendering up whatever satisfaction of debt he has1--he may visit the lowest places of human adversity1 and find there the light of good men's esteem1 the support of conscience1 and the sustenance of religion4 ,a bankrupt may fall into the hands of men whose tender-mercies are cruel2 or his dishonest equivocations may exasperate their temper and provoke every thorn and brier of the law4 ,when men's passions are let loose1 especially their avarice whetted by real or imaginary wrong2 when there is a rivalry among creditors1 lest any one should feast upon the victim more than his share2 and they all rush upon him like wolves upon a wounded deer1 dragging him down1 ripping him open1 breast and flank1 plunging deep their bloody muzzles to reach the heart and taste blood at the very fountain2--is it strange that resistance is desperate and unscrupulous8 ,at length the sufferer drags his mutilated carcass aside1 every nerve and muscle wrung with pain1 and his whole body an instrument of agony4 ,he curses the whole inhuman crew with envenomed imprecations2 and thenceforth1 a brooding misanthrope1 he pays back to society1 by studied villanies1 the legal wrongs which the relentless justice of a few1 or his own knavery1 have brought upon him4 #g4 ,there is a circle of moral dishonesties practised because the ,,law allows them4 ,the very anxiety of law to reach the devices of cunning1 so perplexes its statutes with exceptions1 limitations1 and supplements1 that like a castle gradually enlarged for centuries1 it has its crevices1 dark corners1 secret holes and winding passages--an endless harbor for rats and vermin1 where no trap can catch them4 ,we are villanously infested with legal rats and rascals1 who are able to commit the most flagrant dishonesties with impunity4 ,they can do all of wrong which is profitable1 without that part which is actionable4 ,the very ingenuity of these miscreants excites such admiration of their skill1 that their life is gilded with a specious respectability4 ,men profess little esteem for blunt1 necessitous thieves1 who rob and run away2 but for a gentleman who can break the whole of ,god's law so adroitly1 as to leave man's law unbroken2 who can indulge in such conservative stealing that his fellow-men award him a rank among honest men for the excessive skill of his dishonesty--for such a one1 ,i fear1 there is almost universal sympathy4 #h4 ,,political ,,dishonesty1 breeds dishonesty of every kind4 ,it is possible for good men to permit single sins to co-exist with general integrity1 where the evil is indulged through ignorance4 ,once1 undoubted ,christians were slave-traders4 ,they might be1 while unenlightened2 but not in our times4 ,a state of mind which will intend one fraud1 will1 upon occasions1 intend a thousand4 ,he that upon one emergency will lie1 will be supplied with emergencies4 ,he that will perjure himself to save a friend1 will do it1 in a desperate juncture1 to save himself4 ,the highest ,wisdom has informed us that ,he that is unjust in the least1 is unjust also in much4 ,circumstances may withdraw a politician from temptation to any but political dishonesty2 but under temptation1 a dishonest politician would be a dishonest cashier1--would be dishonest anywhere1--in anything4 ,the fury which destroys an opponent's character1 would stop at nothing1 if barriers were thrown down4 ,that which is true of the leaders in politics1 is true of subordinates4 ,political dishonesty in voters runs into general dishonesty1 as the rotten speck taints the whole apple4 ,a community whose politics are conducted by a perpetual breach of honesty on both sides1 will be tainted by immorality throughout4 ,men will play the same game in their private affairs1 which they have learned to play in public matters4 ,the guile1 the crafty vigilance1 the dishonest advantage1 the cunning sharpness2--the tricks and traps and sly evasions2 the equivocal promises1 and unequivocal neglect of them1 which characterize political action1 will equally characterize private action4 ,the mind has no kitchen to do its dirty work in1 while the parlor remains clean4 ,dishonesty is an atmosphere2 if it comes into one apartment1 it penetrates into every one4 ,whoever will lie in politics1 will lie in traffic4 ,whoever will slander in politics1 will slander in personal squabbles4 ,a professor of religion who is a dishonest politician1 is a dishonest ,christian4 ,his creed is a perpetual index of his hypocrisy4 ,the genius of our government directs the attention of every citizen to politics4 ,its spirit reaches the uttermost bound of society1 and pervades the whole mass4 ,if its channels are slimy with corruption1 what limit can be set to its malign influence8 ,the turbulence of elections1 the virulence of the press1 the desperation of bad men1 the hopelessness of efforts which are not cunning1 but only honest1 have driven many conscientious men from any concern with politics4 ,this is suicidal4 ,thus the tempest will grow blacker and fiercer4 ,our youth will be caught up in its whirling bosom and dashed to pieces1 and its hail will break down every green thing4 ,at ,god's house the cure should begin4 ,let the hand of discipline smite the leprous lips which shall utter the profane heresy3 ,all is fair in politics4 ,if any hoary professor1 drunk with the mingled wine of excitement1 shall tell our youth1 that a ,christian man may act in politics by any other rule of morality than that of the ,bible2 and that wickedness performed for a party1 is not as abominable1 as if done for a man2 or that any necessity justifies or palliates dishonesty in word or deed1--let such a one go out of the camp1 and his pestilent breath no longer spread contagion among our youth4 ,no man who loves his country1 should shrink from her side when she groans with raging distempers4 ,let every ,christian man stand in his place2 rebuke every dishonest practice2 scorn a political as well as a personal lie2 and refuse with indignation to be insulted by the solicitation of an immoral man4 ,let good men of all parties require honesty1 integrity1 veracity1 and morality in politics1 and there1 as powerfully as anywhere else1 the requisitions of public sentiment will ultimately be felt4 #i4 ,a corrupt ,,public ,,sentiment produces dishonesty4 ,a public sentiment1 in which dishonesty is not disgraceful2 in which bad men are respectable1 are trusted1 are honored1 are exalted--is a curse to the young4 ,the fever of speculation1 the universal derangement of business1 the growing laxness of morals1 is1 to an alarming extent1 introducing such a state of things4 ,men of notorious immorality1 whose dishonesty is flagrant1 whose private habits would disgrace the ditch1 are powerful and popular4 ,i have seen a man stained with every sin1 except those which required courage2 into whose head ,i do not think a pure thought has entered for forty years2 in whose heart an honorable feeling would droop for very loneliness2--in evil he was ripe and rotten2 hoary and depraved in deed1 in word1 in his present life and in all his past2 evil when by himself1 and viler among men2 corrupting to the young2--to domestic fidelity1 a recreant2 to common honor1 a traitor2 to honesty1 an outlaw2 to religion1 a hypocrite2--base in all that is worthy of man1 and accomplished in whatever is disgraceful2 and yet this wretch could go where he would2 enter good men's dwellings1 and purloin their votes4 ,men would curse him1 yet obey him2 hate him and assist him2 warn their sons against him1 and lead them to the polls for him4 ,a public sentiment which produces ignominious knaves1 cannot breed honest men4 ,any calamity1 civil or commercial1 which checks the administration of justice between man and man1 is ruinous to honesty4 ,the violent fluctuations of business cover the ground with rubbish over which men stumble2 and fill the air with dust1 in which all the shapes of honesty appear distorted4 ,men are thrown upon unusual expedients2 dishonesties are unobserved2 those who have been reckless and profuse1 stave off the legitimate fruits of their folly by desperate shifts4 ,we have not yet emerged from a period1 in which debts were insecure2 the debtor legally protected against the rights of the creditor2 taxes laid1 not by the requirements of justice1 but for political effect2 and lowered to a dishonest insufficiency2 and when thus diminished1 not collected2 the citizens resisting their own officers2 officers resigning at the bidding of the electors2 the laws of property paralyzed2 bankrupt laws built up2 and stay-laws unconstitutionally enacted1 upon which the courts look with aversion1 yet fear to deny them1 lest the wildness of popular opinion should roll back disdainfully upon the bench1 to despoil its dignity1 and prostrate its power4 ,general suffering has made us tolerant of general dishonesty2 and the gloom of our commercial disaster threatens to become the pall of our morals4 ,if the shocking stupidity of the public mind to atrocious dishonesties is not aroused2 if good men do not bestir themselves to drag the young from this foul sorcery2 if the relaxed bands of honesty are not tightened1 and conscience intoned to a severer morality1 our night is at hand1--our midnight not far off4 ,woe to that guilty people who sit down upon broken laws1 and wealth saved by injustice6 ,woe to a generation fed upon the bread of fraud1 whose children's inheritance shall be a perpetual memento of their fathers' unrighteousness2 to whom dishonesty shall be made pleasant by association with the revered memories of father1 brother1 and friend6 ,but when a whole people1 united by a common disregard of justice1 conspire to defraud public creditors2 and ,states vie with ,states in an infamous repudiation of just debts1 by open or sinister methods2 and nations exert their sovereignty to protect and dignify the knavery of a ,commonwealth2 then the confusion of domestic affairs has bred a fiend1 before whose flight honor fades away1 and under whose feet the sanctity of truth and the religion of solemn compacts are stamped down and ground into the dirt4 ,need we ask the causes of growing dishonesty among the young1 and the increasing untrustworthiness of all agents1 when ,states are seen clothed with the panoply of dishonesty1 and nations put on fraud for their garments8 ,absconding agents1 swindling schemes1 and defalcations1 occurring in such melancholy abundance1 have at length ceased to be wonders1 and rank with the common accidents of fire and flood4 ,the budget of each week is incomplete without its mob and runaway cashier--its duel and defaulter2 and as waves which roll to the shore are lost in those which follow on1 so the villanies of each week obliterate the record of the last4 ,the mania of dishonesty cannot arise from local causes2 it is the result of disease in the whole community2 an eruption betokening foulness of the blood2 blotches symptomatic of a disordered system4 #aj4 ,,financial ,,agents are especially liable to the temptations of ,dishonesty4 ,safe merchants1 and visionary schemers2 sagacious adventurers1 and rash speculators2 frugal beginners1 and retired millionaires1 are constantly around them4 ,every word1 every act1 every entry1 every letter1 suggests only wealth--its germ1 its bud1 its blossom1 its golden harvest4 ,its brilliance dazzles the sight2 its seductions stir the appetites2 its power fires the ambition1 and the soul concentrates its energies to obtain wealth1 as life's highest and only joy4 ,besides the influence of such associations1 direct dealing in money as a commodity1 has a peculiar effect upon the heart4 ,there is no property between it and the mind2--no medium to mellow its light4 ,the mind is diverted and refreshed by no thoughts upon the quality of soils2 the durability of structures2 the advantages of sites2 the beauty of fabrics2 it is not invigorated by the necessity of labor and ingenuity which the mechanic feels2 by the invention of the artisan1 or the taste of the artist4 ,the whole attention falls directly upon naked ,money4 ,the hourly sight of it whets the appetite1 and sharpens it to avarice4 ,thus1 with an intense regard of riches1 steals in also the miser's relish of coin--that insatiate gazing and fondling1 by which seductive metal wins to itself all the blandishments of love4 ,those who mean to be rich1 often begin by imitating the expensive courses of those who are rich4 ,they are also tempted to venture1 before they have means of their own1 in brilliant speculations4 ,how can a young cashier pay the drafts of his illicit pleasures1 or procure the seed1 for the harvest of speculation1 out of his narrow salary8 ,here first begins to work the leaven of death4 ,the mind wanders in dreams of gain2 it broods over projects of unlawful riches2 stealthily at first1 and then with less reserve2 at last it boldly meditates the possibility of being dishonest and safe4 ,when a man can seriously reflect upon dishonesty as a possible and profitable thing1 he is already deeply dishonest4 ,to a mind so tainted1 will flock stories of consummate craft1 of effective knavery1 of fraud covered by its brilliant success4 ,at times1 the mind shrinks from its own thoughts1 and trembles to look down the giddy cliff on whose edge they poise1 or over which they fling themselves like sporting sea-birds4 ,but these imaginations will not be driven from the heart where they have once nested4 ,they haunt a man's business1 visit him in dreams1 and vampire-like1 fan the slumbers of the victim whom they will destroy4 ,in some feverish hour1 vibrating between conscience and avarice1 the man staggers to a compromise4 ,to satisfy his conscience he refuses to steal2 and to gratify his avarice1 he borrows the funds2--not openly--not of owners--not of men3 but of the till--the safe--the vault6 ,he resolves to restore the money before discovery can ensue1 and pocket the profits4 ,meanwhile1 false entries are made1 perjured oaths are sworn1 forged papers are filed4 ,his expenses grow profuse1 and men wonder from what fountain so copious a stream can flow4 ,let us stop here to survey his condition4 ,he flourishes1 is called prosperous1 thinks himself safe4 ,is he safe1 or honest8 ,he has stolen1 and embarked the amount upon a sea over which wander perpetual storms2 where wreck is the common fate1 and escape the accident2 and now all his chance for the semblance of honesty1 is staked upon the return of his embezzlements from among the sands1 the rocks and currents1 the winds and waves1 and darkness1 of tumultuous speculation4 ,at length dawns the day of discovery4 ,his guilty dreams have long foretokened it4 ,as he confronts the disgrace almost face to face1 how changed is the hideous aspect of his deed1 from that fair face of promise with which it tempted him6 ,conscience1 and honor1 and plain honesty1 which left him when they could not restrain1 now come back to sharpen his anguish4 ,overawed by the prospect of open shame1 of his wife's disgrace1 and his children's beggary1 he cows down1 and slinks out of life a frantic suicide4 ,some there be1 however1 less supple to shame4 ,they meet their fate with cool impudence2 defy their employers2 brave the court1 and too often with success4 ,the delusion of the public mind1 or the confusion of affairs is such1 that1 while petty culprits are tumbled into prison1 a cool1 calculating and immense scoundrel is pitied1 dandled and nursed by a sympathizing community4 ,in the broad road slanting to the rogue's retreat1 are seen the officer of the bank1 the agent of the state1 the officer of the church1 in indiscriminate haste1 outrunning a lazy justice1 and bearing off the gains of astounding frauds4 ,avarice and pleasure seem to have dissolved the conscience4 ,it is a day of trouble and of perplexity from the ,lord4 ,we tremble to think that our children must leave the covert of the family1 and go out upon that dark and yeasty sea1 from whose wrath so many wrecks are cast up at our feet4 ,of one thing ,i am certain2 if the church of ,christ is silent to such deeds1 and makes her altar a refuge to such dishonesty1 the day is coming when she shall have no altar1 the light shall go out from her candlestick1 her walls shall be desolate1 and the fox look out at her windows4 #aa4 ,,executive ,,clemency1 by its frequency1 has been a temptation to ,dishonesty4 ,who will fear to be a culprit when a legal sentence is the argument of pity1 and the prelude of pardon8 ,what can the community expect but growing dishonesty1 when juries connive at acquittals1 and judges condemn only to petition a pardon2 when honest men and officers fly before a mob2 when jails are besieged and threatened1 if felons are not relinquished2 when the ,executive1 consulting the spirit of the community1 receives the demands of the mob1 and humbly complies1 throwing down the fences of the law1 that base rioters may walk unimpeded1 to their work of vengeance1 or unjust mercy8 ,a sickly sentimentality too often enervates the administration of justice2 and the pardoning power becomes the master-key to let out unwashed1 unrepentant criminals4 ,they have fleeced us1 robbed us1 and are ulcerous sores to the body politic2 yet our heart turns to water over their merited punishment4 ,a fine young fellow1 by accident1 writes another's name for his own2 by a mistake equally unfortunate1 he presents it at the bank2 innocently draws out the large amount2 generously spends a part1 and absent-mindedly hides the rest4 ,hard-hearted wretches there are1 who would punish him for this6 ,young men1 admiring the neatness of the affair1 pity his misfortune1 and curse a stupid jury that knew no better than to send to a penitentiary1 him1 whose skill deserved a cashiership4 ,he goes to his cell1 the pity of a whole metropolis4 ,bulletins from ,sing-,sing inform us daily what ,edwards#a is doing1 as if he were ,napoleon at ,st4 ,helena4 ,at length pardoned1 he will go forth again to a renowned liberty6 ,if there be one way quicker than another1 by which the ,executive shall assist crime1 and our laws foster it1 it is that course which assures every dishonest man1 that it is easy to defraud1 easy to avoid arrest1 easy to escape punishment1 and easiest of all to obtain a pardon4 #ab4 ,,commercial ,,speculations are prolific of ,dishonesty4 ,speculation is the risking of capital in enterprises greater than we can control1 or in enterprises whose elements are not at all calculable4 ,all calculations of the future are uncertain2 but those which are based upon long experience approximate certainty1 while those which are drawn by sagacity from probable events1 are notoriously unsafe4 ,unless1 however1 some venture1 we shall forever tread an old and dull path2 therefore enterprise is allowed to pioneer new ways4 ,the safe enterpriser explores cautiously1 ventures at first a little1 and increases the venture with the ratio of experience4 ,a speculator looks out upon the new region1 as upon a far-away landscape1 whose features are softened to beauty by distance2 upon a hope1 he stakes that1 which1 if it wins1 will make him2 and if it loses1 will ruin him4 ,when the alternatives are victory1 or utter destruction1 a battle may1 sometimes1 still be necessary4 ,but commerce has no such alternatives2 only speculation proceeds upon them4 ,if the capital is borrowed1 it is as dishonest1 upon such ventures1 to risk1 as to lose it4 ,should a man borrow a noble steed and ride among incitements which he knew would rouse up his fiery spirit to an uncontrollable height1 and borne away with wild speed1 be plunged over a precipice1 his destruction might excite our pity1 but could not alter our opinion of his dishonesty4 ,he borrowed property1 and endangered it where he knew that it would be uncontrollable4 ,if the capital be one's own1 it can scarcely be risked and lost1 without the ruin of other men4 ,no man could blow up his store in a compact street1 and destroy only his own4 ,men of business are1 like threads of a fabric1 woven together1 and subject1 to a great extent1 to a common fate of prosperity or adversity4 ,i have no right to cut off my hand2 ,i defraud myself1 my family1 the community1 and ,god2 for all these have an interest in that hand4 ,neither has a man the right to throw away his property4 ,he defrauds himself1 his family1 the community in which he dwells2 for all these have an interest in that property4 ,if waste is dishonesty1 then every risk1 in proportion as it approaches it1 is dishonest4 ,to venture1 without that foresight which experience gives1 is wrong2 and if we cannot foresee1 then we must not venture4 ,scheming speculation demoralizes honesty1 and almost necessitates dishonesty4 ,he who puts his own interests to rash ventures1 will scarcely do better for others4 ,the ,speculator regards the weightiest affair as only a splendid game4 ,indeed1 a ,speculator on the exchange1 and a ,gambler at his table1 follow one vocation1 only with different instruments4 ,one employs cards or dice1 the other property4 ,the one can no more foresee the result of his schemes1 than the other what spots will come up on his dice2 the calculations of both are only the chances of luck4 ,both burn with unhealthy excitement2 both are avaricious of gains1 but careless of what they win2 both depend more upon fortune than skill2 they have a common distaste for labor2 with each1 right and wrong are only the accidents of a game2 neither would scruple in any hour to set his whole being on the edge of ruin1 and going over1 to pull down1 if possible1 a hundred others4 ,the wreck of such men leaves them with a drunkard's appetite1 and a fiend's desperation4 ,the revulsion from extravagant hopes1 to a certainty of midnight darkness2 the sensations of poverty1 to him who was in fancy just stepping upon a princely estate2 the humiliation of gleaning for cents1 where he has been profuse of dollars2 the chagrin of seeing old competitors now above him1 grinning down upon his poverty a malignant triumph2 the pity of pitiful men1 and the neglect of such as should have been his friends1--and who were1 while the sunshine lay upon his path1--all these things1 like so many strong winds1 sweep across the soul so that it cannot rest in the cheerless tranquility of honesty1 but casts up mire and dirt4 ,how stately the balloon rises and sails over continents1 as over petty landscapes6 ,the slightest slit in its frail covering sends it tumbling down1 swaying widely1 whirling and pitching hither and thither1 until it plunges into some dark glen1 out of the path of honest men1 and too shattered to tempt even a robber4 ,so have we seen a thousand men pitched down2 so now1 in a thousand places may their wrecks be seen4 ,but still other balloons are framing1 and the air is full of victim-venturers4 ,if our young men are introduced to life with distaste for safe ways1 because the sure profits are slow2 if the opinion becomes prevalent that all business is great1 only as it tends to the uncertain1 the extravagant1 and the romantic2 then we may stay our hand at once1 nor waste labor in absurd expostulations of honesty4 ,i had as lief preach humanity to a battle of eagles1 as to urge honesty and integrity upon those who have determined to be rich1 and to gain it by gambling stakes1 and madmen's ventures4 ,all the bankruptcies of commerce are harmless compared with a bankruptcy of public morals4 ,should the ,atlantic ocean break over our shores1 and roll sheer across to the ,pacific1 sweeping every vestige of cultivation1 and burying our wealth1 it would be a mercy1 compared to that ocean-deluge of dishonesty and crime1 which1 sweeping over the whole land1 has spared our wealth and taken our virtue4 ,what are cornfields and vineyards1 what are stores and manufactures1 and what are gold and silver1 and all the precious commodities of the earth1 among beasts8--and what are men1 bereft of conscience and honor1 but beasts8 ,we will forget those things which are behind1 and hope a more cheerful future4 ,we turn to you1 ,,young ,,men6--,all good men1 all patriots1 turn to watch your advance upon the stage1 and to implore you to be worthy of yourselves1 and of your revered ancestry4 ,oh6 ye favored of ,heaven6 with a free land1 a noble inheritance of wise laws1 and a prodigality of wealth in prospect1--advance to your possessions6--,may you settle down1 as did ,israel of old1 a people of ,god in a promised and protected land2--true to yourselves1 true to your country1 and true to your ,god4 ,footnote3 #a ,monroe ,edwards1 a notorious forger4--,,ed4 ,,altemus' ,,belles-,,lettres ,,series4 ,a collection of ,essays and ,addresses by eminent ,english and ,american ,authors1 beautifully printed and daintily bound in leatherette1 with original designs in silver4 ,,price1 #be ,,cents ,,per ,,volume4 ,,independence ,,day1 by ,rev4 ,edward ,e4 ,hale4 ,,the ,,scholar ,,in ,,politics1 by ,hon4 ,richard ,olney4 ,,the ,,young ,,man ,,in ,,business1 by ,edward ,w4 ,bok4 ,,the ,,young ,,man ,,and ,,the ,,church1 by ,edward ,w4 ,bok4 ,,the ,,spoils ,,system1 by ,hon4 ,carl ,schurz4 ,,conversation1 by ,thomas ,de ,quincey4 ,,sweetness ,,and ,,light1 by ,matthew ,arnold4 ,,work1 by ,john ,ruskin4 ,,nature ,,and ,,art1 by ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson4 ,,the ,,use ,,and ,,misuse ,,of ,,books1 by ,frederic ,harrison4 ,,the ,,monroe ,,doctrine3 ,,its ,,origin1 ,,meaning ,,and ,,application1 by ,prof4 ,john ,bach ,mc,master 7,university of ,pennsylvania74 ,,the ,,destiny ,,of ,,man1 by ,sir ,john ,lubbock4 ,,love ,,and ,,friendship1 by ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson4 ,,rip ,,van ,,winkle1 by ,washington ,irving4 ,,art1 ,,poetry ,,and ,,music1 by ,sir ,john ,lubbock4 ,,the ,,choice ,,of ,,books1 by ,sir ,john ,lubbock4 ,,manners1 by ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson4 ,,character1 by ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson4 ,,the ,,legend ,,of ,,sleepy ,,hollow1 by ,washington ,irving4 ,,the ,,beauties ,,of ,,nature1 by ,sir ,john ,lubbock4 ,,self ,,reliance1 by ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson4 ,,the ,,duty ,,of ,,happiness1 by ,sir ,john ,lubbock4 ,,spiritual ,,laws1 by ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson4 ,,old ,,christmas1 by ,washington ,irving4 ,,health1 ,,wealth ,,and ,,the ,,blessing ,,of ,,friends1 by ,sir ,john ,lubbock4 ,,intellect1 by ,ralph ,waldo ,emerson4 ,,why ,,americans ,,dislike ,,england1 by ,prof4 ,geo4 ,b4 ,adams 7,yale74 ,,the ,,higher ,,education ,,as ,a ,,training ,,for ,,business1 by ,prof4 ,harry ,pratt ,judson 7,university of ,chicago74 ,,miss ,,toosey',s ,,mission4 ,,laddie4 ,j4 ,,cole1 by ,emma ,gellibrand4 ,,henry ,,altemus1 #ejg1 #eji1 #eaa1 #eac ,cherry ,street1 ,philadelphia4