tates of conscience, and his sense of moral obligation. It might be of some use for a person to inquire whether such business tends to the good of mankind, or is the cause of evil; if the latter, how can any man engage in it with a good conscience? If he who has doubts respecting the justness and propriety of engaging in a certain branch of trade be condemned, if he engage in that branch of business, how much more the individual who embarks in that which he knows to be positively injurious? Having referred to the propriety and necessity of ascertaining whether it be right and proper to engage in any given branch of business (and, we may add, to continue in any given branch of business), we shall proceed to state the view which we purpose taking of the subject before

us.

We shall notice :

I. What is implied in the conscientious management of trade. II. The good which would result from it. And,

III. Several considerations by which it may be urged on the attention of tradesmen.

I.-Let us notice first what is implied in the conscientious management of trade. Here an almost endless number of particulars might be enumerated, but our time will not allow us to do more than to refer to some of them, and to mention these in a somewhat general manner. In the conscientious management of trade it is implied

1. That an individual acts strictly on the principles of honesty and integrity. He therefore represents his goods according to their quality and value. If they be of superior quality, he may very properly speak of them as such; if of inferior quality, corresponding terms should be used. If they be imperfect, their imperfections should be pointed out before the sale is effected, and every due allowance be made; and in no way should he deceive another with respect to the quality of an article, nor should he require more than a fair price for it. Thus to speak and act, is according to the precepts of the moral law, that law which God has

given us for the government of our conduct, and according to which we must be judged. One of the precepts of that law is, "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another."* Another is, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." The first of these precepts is violated when we deceive another, at the time we are professing to state what is the truth. The second is transgressed when we require more than is just.

No man wishes to be deceived, and no one should deceive another; no one wishes to be unjustly dealt with, and no one should deal unjustly. The conscientious tradesman will not, for the sake of disposing of some overplus stock, take advantage of the ignorance of his customers by extolling the quality of his goods, and state that he offers them at a price far below their value in the market, when he knows that this is not the case. Were his own interest to be promoted by such a line of procedure, he would not adopt it; but it is absurd to imagine that such a mode of proceeding could really advance his interests, it being impossible that anything inconsistent with honesty and integrity should ever be of real advantage.

The tradesman, in the conscientious management of his business, faithfully adheres to his engagement. He feels bound by the promise which he has made; he knows that trade cannot be carried on properly without integrity and mutual good faith. Remembering that the promises which he himself has made have led others also to make promises, the fulfilment of which will be expected at the time stated, he is careful so to act as that he may be prepared to meet his engagements, lest, by a failure in this, he prevent others also from fulfilling their engagements, and so cause ❝innu

* Eph. iv. 25.

† Matt. vii. 12.

merable evils." This is a consideration which will, no doubt, have its due weight with the tradesman who acts on the principles of honesty and integrity; but there is a reason why he should be faithful to his engagements, which, if duly considered, cannot but give him to feel that he is imperatively called upon to be thus faithful; and that is, that God requires it of him. He who is true and faithful, requires us to be "faithful in all things." He cannot take pleasure in those who violate their engagements. Unfaithfulness towards others is, at the same time, a sin against God; for He who has required us to walk uprightly before Himself, requires us to do justly towards our fellow creatures. The duties of both the first and second table are alike imposed by divine authority, so that neglecting either the one or the other is a sin against that authority.

In the conscientious management of trade, there is a due entry made of all accounts requiring, such entry. This is indispensably necessary to a correct knowledge of the state of the business in which a man is engaged. If a tradesman neglect to enter an account of the goods for which he is indebted to another, he may, and probably will, imagine himself much better circumstanced than he really is; if he omit to enter what is owing by others to him, he will be at a loss to know what he has done with it. Now, to preserve him from both these evils, it is necessary that his accounts be properly kept. For want of regularity in the keeping of accounts, many and great evils have arisen, all of which the conscientious tradesman wishes to avoid, and therefore he takes care that all proper means be employed to prevent their occurrence. Thus to do is both just to himself and to others. All things in this respect should be done decently and in order."

The tradesman, in conscientiously conducting his business, disposes of his goods at a fair price-he is acquainted with the quality of his goods and their value. In the dis

posal of them, he asks what is just and proper. He does not persuade himself that it is right, through motives of gain and self-interest, to secure too high a price for them when he has an opportunity of so doing; nor does he, on the other hand, think it right, in order to promote the extent of his sales, and to increase the number of his customers, to profess to offer his goods at an unparalleled low price, and at a "tremendous sacrifice," when he knows that by so doing he is either injuring himself, and, in all probability, injuring others, or else deceiving the public. Excessive competition and under-selling have been prolific in evils, and not unfrequently have led to the utter ruin of many individuals in trade. The conscientious tradesman is wishful to act justly towards his fellow-tradesmen; he remembers that it is said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

In the conscientious management of trade, there is a refraining from over-trading, or trading beyond available capital. Over-trading is a tremendous evil, and has produced consequences which it were difficult to pourtray. How many failures and bankruptcies have been the result; and how many miseries have these failures occasioned! Oh, who is able to depict them! But what conscientious tradesman can bring his mind to run the risk which attends such over-trading? He remembers that he has a certain amount of capital, and that if he go beyond this he is not trading with his own, but with that which belongs to another. A remembrance of that precept, "Render to all their dues," will lead him to avoid being brought, by over-trading, into those circumstances in which he would not be able to meet his engagements. The speculative in trade are too prone to forget, in the midst of their fanciful dreams and enchanting reveries, that the day of payment will arrive, and are too ready to imagine that all will happen according to their expectation. They do not believe it right to be found unable to

meet the just demands which will be made upon them, but they do not avoid what, in all probability, will place them in such a position; nor do they, it is probable, properly consider that an inability to meet their engagements at the specified time very materially injures their credit. If their speculations do not entail upon them the miseries of a failure, yet, by rendering them unable to meet the demands of their creditors at the time previously agreed upon, they very considerably injure their reputation, and this is considered to be no trifling matter by every wellregulated mind. The conscientious tradesman avoids the temptation to engage in ruinous speculations—he knows that many a man has lost his all in the perturbed and dangerous sea of speculation. He wishes to avoid the rock against which others have been dashed, and he feels it to be his duty not to venture where he may not only lose his own, but that which belongs to another.

In conscientiously managing his business, the tradesman declines giving too much credit, knowing that this may prove injurious both to himself and to the person receiving it. The system of giving and taking too much credit has proved very injurious to both wholesale and retail dealers. How strange that in such a world of uncertainties there should be such a disposition in many to proceed on a principle which may prove destructive to the business in which they are engaged. The conscientious tradesman cannot venture on such a principle: he had rather do a moderate share of business and keep within the bounds of safety, than increase the number of his customers by parting with his goods on long credit, which, owing to a thousand unforeseen events, may, in the end, prove disastrous.

2. In the conscientious management of trade, it is implied that due attention is paid to the state of the business in which an individual is engaged. Every tradesman ought to know how he is circumstanced with regard to his affairs; at least, whether he is solvent or insolvent; and every

conscientious tradesman will be thus acquainted with his affairs, and will take care to regulate his domestic concerns with respect to the same. There have been tradesmen who have allowed their business affairs to get into a very confused state, and have been, to a great extent, ignorant as to the precise position in which they stood in relation to their creditors. We need not say that conscientiousness in the management of their business would have prevented this, as they would thereby have been led, from time to time, to inquire how they were circumstanced. It is not enough that all accounts be duly entered those accounts must be examined, and it must be ascertained on which side the balance lies.

3. In the conscientious management of trade, it is implied that it is so conducted that those employed in it are not injured in their moral and religious principles. There should be a strict adherence to honesty, integrity, and fair dealing; no exorbitant charges where such may be made without being discovered no false assertions as to quality and price; and no deception practised in any form whatever. A conscientious tradesman cannot approve of any. thing of this kind. He will not himself, nor will he require those in his employ, to attend to his business on the Sabbath-day. He knows that that is a day of rest, and that it is necessary to his own health and comfort, and to the health and comfort of those whom he employs, to cease from labour on that day. Besides, it is the Lord's Day-a day set apart especially for the worship of God; and who that professes to have the least regard for the word of God, can allow his business to engross the hours of that holy day? Nor will the conscientious tradesman continue an attention to his business until it be impossible to make due preparation for the duties of the Sabbath. He believes it is right that there should be a day of rest, and that the work of other days should cease in time to allow of a due preparation for that day. We

principle of conscientiousness in the management of trade. No individual would then have reason to fear that a brother tradesman was seeking to aggrand'ze his own interest by inflicting injury on another. One would have confidence in another, and not only recognize in his fellow a man, but a friend and a brother. Thus would there be a developement of the better feelings of the heart, and a beautiful exhibition of those grand principles of morality which should regulate the proceedings of one toward another in all commercial transactions. Justice and integrity would triumph over dishonesty and deception, truth over falsehood, mutual confidence and good faith over suspicion, and commerce would, indeed, be the means of cementing the ties of a common brotherhood. We hasten,

III. To mention several considerations by which the conscientious management of trade may be urged on the attention of every tradesman. The good already mentioned as resulting from it, should operate as a powerful stimulus to pursue the line of uprightness and integrity in the management of business, and will, no doubt, have a proper influence on every well-regulated mind; for no such mind can take delight in the existence of such evils as flow from a want of conscientiousness in the carrying on of business; and, moreover, every such mind must desire the prevention of these evils, and feel happy in the contemplation of the positive good which results from that management of trade to which our attention has been directed; but there are three motives to which we wish to call your attention, and which, we trust, will be allowed to exert their due influence over your minds. We shall do little more than name them, though we most fervently pray that they may always be remembered by

worldly possessions. They may fail, and shall ultimately pass away; but a good character will live in the recollection of surviving friends when he who has possessed it is numbered with the dead. Now, in order that there may be this good character, there must be a conduct governed by the principle of conscientiousness. Again,

2. Conscientiousness in the management of trade is essential to calmness in the prospect of death. By this we do not intend that such conscientiousness is all that is requisite to prepare you to meet death; by no means; for there must be the enjoyment of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What we intend is, that you cannot be prepared to meet death unless you be conscientious in the management of your business; because, in that case, you will have guilt on your conscience, and this will prevent you from enjoying that peace which the man possesses who is prepared to meet death.

3. The conscientious management of trade is essential to your being prepared for the great day of accounts. Not that this is all that is necessary, but this is necessary. You will have to stand before the judg ment-seat of Christ. You will be judged according to your works. Be prepared for that awful day, not only by being upright and honest in all your dealings, but by having an interest in that Saviour who died the "just for the unjust," and through whose precious merits pardon, peace and holiness, and everlasting life are offered to all that truly believe in his name. May God add his blessing. Amen.

T. RIDGE.

PRAYER AS A TEST OF CHRISTIAN CONDUCT.

A YOUNG man, son of one of the most respectable and wealthy inhabitants of Pennsylvania, was converted to Christ. His father was a violent opposer of religion, and endeavoured, by various methods, to banish serious