THE CLAIMS OF THE MERCANTILE PROFESSION UPON THE PULPIT.
AN intelligent gentleman, a partner in an opulent commercial house, once said to me We could, without the least difficulty, increase our annual profits to the extent of several thousand dollars, if we were willing to conform to usages which are practised by many firms around us.” This observation made the deeper impression upon me, because I had just been reading a small volume,* the object of which was, not precisely to discuss, but by means of a fictitious narrative to illustrate, the question-"Is it possible, in the present state of things, to do a mercantile business successfully, on Christian principles ?" The author of this work, "A Counting-House Man," without replying to the question categorically, incorporates his answer with the facts of the narrative. His hero, an incorruptible young merchant, after a