With all this demand, the business man still stands largely in a class by himself, a class apart from the great leaders of the world.  He is not yet received into the spiritual circles of the race.  He goes about the world, sits on boards and committees, fills directorships and trusteeships, pays pew-rent, and runs towns.  But when the spiritual conclaves of the world take place, when the things of life and death are inquired into, when words are said of the higher conduct of the life of man, if he draw near inquiringly or unguardedly to the sacred place, scholar and poet, priest, saint, and proud hand-worker alike rise up and say, Go away.

It wears upon the heart—­this spiritual isolation of the business man.  Does not he often say sadly to himself, They only want my money?

Why must he go away?  What has he done, that he must be waved down?  If we discover why he must go away, we shall discover the meaning of that great caste-line which has long been drawn, and ought no longer to be drawn, between trade and letters, trade and the Church, trade and social prestige.

The reason he must go away is this:  He has never ruled the higher history of man; he does not yet quite belong to the ideal-makers of the race.  Understand, I am not now speaking of the new business man, the exceptional one, upright, cultured, altruistic, whom you and I may know; I am speaking of a broad class-line, a class distinction.

It is a strange concept that would bar the business man from the ideal; that would limit his life to an account-book, a ledger, a roll of stocks, rents, and possessions, instead of granting him the freedom of the universe, the privilege of ministering to the race.  Singularly enough, the business class is the last class that Christianity has set free.  Slaves have been given liberty; women, social companionship and intellectual equality; manual labor has been lifted to dignity and honor.  But to break the shackles of the man of trade is the work of our era, or of an era yet to come.  Thousands of young men are daily stepping into counting-houses, or behind sales-counters, or into independent stores, who will never lift their eyes from their goods and account-books, nor rise above the linen, hardware, groceries, or house-fixtures which they sell.  Such a situation is suicidal of national prosperity, and blocks the high hopes of the world.

Lack of appreciation of the life of business is sinful and unjust.  A high-principled businessman may be one of the noblest leaders of mankind.  The world needs great business men—­men who will know how to use the resources of a country, how to plan for its industry, manufactures, and commerce:  men who understand the principles of production and exchange; ways of transportation; systems of credit and banking:  men who know the constitution of the country, and the history of its development; its strength and weakness, its possibilities and needs:  men who will deal honorably in business contracts, both with buyers and employees, and also with law-making bodies:  men who will steadily try to advance international prosperity, as well as personal wealth.