Sure to Succeed (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1889 Excerpt: ...matter, it would sometimes be positively ludicrous, to see how men, professing to be religious, relegate religion to a special department of its own. Suppose a man says to me, "I am going to set apart one day of every week to be honest, or to be truthful," expecting me to commend him for this, would I not be more inclined to say to him, "Then you must be a consummate rogue;" but is it not much the same mistake if I specify one particular day or hour, and virtually say, "I am going to be religious then "? Many a man is, every inch of him, a religious man on one day of the week, and a non-religious man all the other six days. He walks reverently to church on Sunday, sits down in his pew (for he has sittings of his own), sings sacred hymns, joins in the prayers, listens to the sermon, drops his offering in the plate, goes home and wears an air of devoutness all day; but, when Monday morning comes, he stows away all his religion like his Sunday suit of clothes, and says, "Lie there; you shall not be wanted again till next Sabbath." And, should there happen on Monday to be anything in business that is not straight, and one ventures to say to him, "I did not expect this of a Christian man," he fires up, and replies, "What has that to do with religion? Everything in its own place. Religion is religion, and business is business." And so there is this hateful fallacy springing up, that godliness is a thing distinct from your daily life, a garb for Sundays only, like this pulpit robe which is worn but fifty-two days in the year, and all the other days hangs useless in the wardrobe This unreality in religion has much to do with many a man's aversion to formally joining himself to the Church. III. In the thir...