that I have often found myself drifting into their practice, and
abandoning for a time the higher principles in whose guidance there
alone is safety. Misfortune seems to have dogged my steps; but in
this pause of my life--in this state of calmness--I can see that
misfortune is my good; for, not until my feet were turning into ways
that lead to death, did I stumble and fall."

"Are you not too hard in self-judgment?" I said.

"No," he answered. "The case stands just here. You know, I presume,
the immediate cause of my recent failure in business."

"A sudden decline in stocks."

The color deepened on his cheeks.

"Yes; that is the cause. Now, years ago, I settled it clearly with
my own conscience that stock speculation was wrong; that it was only
another name for gambling, in which, instead of rendering service to
the community, your gains were, in nearly all cases, measured by
another's loss. Departing from this just principle of action, I was
tempted to invest a large sum of money in a rising stock, that I was
sure would continue to advance until it reached a point where, in
selling I could realize a net gain of ten thousand dollars. I was
doing well. I was putting by from two to three thousand dollars
every year, and was in a fair way to get rich. But, as money began
to accumulate, I grew more and more eager in its acquirement, and
less concerned about the principles underlying every action, until I
passed into a temporary state of moral blindness. I was less
scrupulous about securing large advantages in trade, and would take