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diff --git a/old/crctr10.txt b/old/crctr10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0040206 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/crctr10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12962 @@ +***The Project Gutenberg Etext of Character, by Samuel Smiles*** +#6 in our series by Samuel Smiles + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned and proofed by Sean Hackett (shack@eircom.net) + + + + + +CHAPTER I.--INFLUENCE OF CHARACTER. + + + +"Unless above himself he can +Erect himself, how poor a thing is man"--DANIEL. + +"Character is moral order seen through the medium, of an +individual nature.... Men of character are the conscience of +the society to which they belong."--EMERSON. + +"The prosperity of a country depends, not on the abundance of its +revenues, nor on the strength of its fortifications, nor on the +beauty of its public buildings; but it consists in the number of +its cultivated citizens, in its men of education, enlightenment, +and character; here are to be found its true interest, its chief +strength, its real power."--MARTIN LUTHER. + + +Character is one of the greatest motive powers in the world. In +its noblest embodiments, it exemplifies human nature in its +highest forms, for it exhibits man at his best. + +Men of genuine excellence, in every station of life--men of +industry, of integrity, of high principle, of sterling honesty of +purpose--command the spontaneous homage of mankind. It is +natural to believe in such men, to have confidence in them, and to +imitate them. All that is good in the world is upheld by them, +and without their presence in it the world would not be worth +living in. + +Although genius always commands admiration, character most secures +respect. The former is more the product of brain-power, the +latter of heart-power; and in the long run it is the heart that +rules in life. Men of genius stand to society in the relation of +its intellect, as men of character of its conscience; and while +the former are admired, the latter are followed. + +Great men are always exceptional men; and greatness itself is but +comparative. Indeed, the range of most men in life is so limited, +that very few have the opportunity of being great. But each man +can act his part honestly and honourably, and to the best of his +ability. He can use his gifts, and not abuse them. He can strive +to make the best of life. He can be true, just, honest, and +faithful, even in small things. In a word, he can do his Duty in +that sphere in which Providence has placed him. + +Commonplace though it may appear, this doing of one's Duty +embodies the highest ideal of life and character. There may be +nothing heroic about it; but the common lot of men is not heroic. +And though the abiding sense of Duty upholds man in his highest +attitudes, it also equally sustains him in the transaction of the +ordinary affairs of everyday existence. Man's life is "centred in +the sphere of common duties." The most influential of all the +virtues are those which are the most in request for daily use. +They wear the best, and last the longest. Superfine virtues, which +are above the standard of common men, may only be sources of +temptation and danger. Burke has truly said that "the human +system which rests for its basis on the heroic virtues is sure to +have a superstructure of weakness or of profligacy." + +When Dr. Abbot, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, drew the +character of his deceased friend Thomas Sackville, (1) he did not +dwell upon his merits as a statesman, or his genius as a poet, but +upon his virtues as a man in relation to the ordinary duties of +life. "How many rare things were in him!" said he. "Who more +loving unto his wife? Who more kind unto his children?--Who more +fast unto his friend?--Who more moderate unto his enemy?--Who +more true to his word?" Indeed, we can always better understand +and appreciate a man's real character by the manner in which he +conducts himself towards those who are the most nearly related to +him, and by his transaction of the seemingly commonplace details +of daily duty, than by his public exhibition of himself as an +author, an orator, or a statesman. + +At the same time, while Duty, for the most part, applies to the +conduct of affairs in common life by the average of common men, it +is also a sustaining power to men of the very highest standard of +character. They may not have either money, or property, or +learning, or power; and yet they may be strong in heart and rich +in spirit--honest, truthful, dutiful. And whoever strives to do +his duty faithfully is fulfilling the purpose for which he was +created, and building up in himself the principles of a manly +character. There are many persons of whom it may be said that +they have no other possession in the world but their character, +and yet they stand as firmly upon it as any crowned king. + +Intellectual culture has no necessary relation to purity or +excellence of character. In the New Testament, appeals are +constantly made to the heart of man and to "the spirit we are of," +whilst allusions to the intellect are of very rare occurrence. "A +handful of good life," says George Herbert, "is worth a bushel of +learning." Not that learning is to be despised, but that it must +be allied to goodness. Intellectual capacity is sometimes found +associated with the meanest moral character with abject servility +to those in high places, and arrogance to those of low estate. A +man may be accomplished in art, literature, and science, and yet, +in honesty, virtue, truthfulness, and the spirit of duty, be +entitled to take rank after many a poor and illiterate peasant. + +"You insist," wrote Perthes to a friend, "on respect for learned +men. I say, Amen! But, at the same time, don't forget that +largeness of mind, depth of thought, appreciation of the lofty, +experience of the world, delicacy of manner, tact and energy in +action, love of truth, honesty, and amiability--that all these +may be wanting in a man who may yet be very learned." (2) + +When some one, in Sir Walter Scott's hearing, made a remark as to +the value of literary talents and accomplishments, as if they were +above all things to be esteemed and honoured, he observed, "God +help us! what a poor world this would be if that were the true +doctrine! I have read books enough, and observed and conversed +with enough of eminent and splendidly-cultured minds, too, in my +time; but I assure you, I have heard higher sentiments from the +lips of poor UNEDUCATED men and women, when exerting the spirit of +severe yet gentle heroism under difficulties and afflictions, or +speaking their simple thoughts as to circumstances in the lot of +friends and neighbours, than I ever yet met with out of the Bible. +We shall never learn to feel and respect our real calling and +destiny, unless we have taught ourselves to consider everything as +moonshine, compared with the education of the heart." (3) + +Still less has wealth any necessary connection with elevation of +character. On the contrary, it is much more frequently the cause +of its corruption and degradation. Wealth and corruption, luxury +and vice, have very close affinities to each other. Wealth, in +the hands of men of weak purpose, of deficient self-control, or of +ill-regulated passions, is only a temptation and a snare--the +source, it may be, of infinite mischief to themselves, and often +to others. + +On the contrary, a condition of comparative poverty is compatible +with character in its highest form. A man may possess only his +industry, his frugality, his integrity, and yet stand high in the +rank of true manhood. The advice which Burns's father gave him +was the best: + + "He bade me act a manly part, though I had ne'er a farthing, + For without an honest manly heart no man was worth regarding." + +One of the purest and noblest characters the writer ever knew was +a labouring man in a northern county, who brought up his family +respectably on an income never amounting to more than ten +shillings a week. Though possessed of only the rudiments of +common education, obtained at an ordinary parish school, he was a +man full of wisdom and thoughtfulness. His library consisted of +the Bible, 'Flavel,' and 'Boston'--books which, excepting the +first, probably few readers have ever heard of. This good man +might have sat for the portrait of Wordsworth's well-known +'Wanderer.' When he had lived his modest life of work and worship, +and finally went to his rest, he left behind him a reputation for +practical wisdom, for genuine goodness, and for helpfulness in +every good work, which greater and richer men might have envied. + +When Luther died, he left behind him, as set forth in his will, +"no ready money, no treasure of coin of any description." He was +so poor at one part of his life, that he was under the necessity +of earning his bread by turning, gardening, and clockmaking. Yet, +at the very time when he was thus working with his hands, he was +moulding the character of his country; and he was morally +stronger, and vastly more honoured and followed, than all the +princes of Germany. + +Character is property. It is the noblest of possessions. It is +an estate in the general goodwill and respect of men; and they who +invest in it--though they may not become rich in this world's +goods--will find their reward in esteem and reputation fairly and +honourably won. And it is right that in life good qualities +should tell--that industry, virtue, and goodness should rank the +highest--and that the really best men should be foremost. + +Simple honesty of purpose in a man goes a long way in life, if +founded on a just estimate of himself and a steady obedience to +the rule he knows and feels to be right. It holds a man straight, +gives him strength and sustenance, and forms a mainspring of +vigorous action. 'No man," once said Sir Benjamin Rudyard, "is +bound to be rich or great,--no, nor to be wise; but every man is +bound to be honest." (4) + +But the purpose, besides being honest, must be inspired by sound +principles, and pursued with undeviating adherence to truth, +integrity, and uprightness. Without principles, a man is like a +ship without rudder or compass, left to drift hither and thither +with every wind that blows. He is as one without law, or rule, or +order, or government. "Moral principles," says Hume, "are social +and universal. They form, in a manner, the PARTY of humankind +against vice and disorder, its common enemy." + +Epictetus once received a visit from a certain magnificent orator +going to Rome on a lawsuit, who wished to learn from the stoic +something of his philosophy. Epictetus received his visitor +coolly, not believing in his sincerity. "You will only criticise +my style," said he; "not really wishing to learn principles."-- +"Well, but," said the orator, "if I attend to that sort of thing; +I shall be a mere pauper, like you, with no plate, nor equipage, +nor land."--"I don't WANT such things," replied Epictetus; "and +besides, you are poorer than I am, after all. Patron or no +patron, what care I? You DO care. I am richer than you. I don't +care what Caesar thinks of me. I flatter no one. This is what I +have, instead of your gold and silver plate. You have silver +vessels, but earthenware reasons, principles, appetites. My mind +to me a kingdom is, and it furnishes me with abundant and happy +occupation in lieu of your restless idleness. All your +possessions seem small to you; mine seem great to me. Your desire +is insatiate--mine is satisfied." (5) + +Talent is by no means rare in the world; nor is even genius. But +can the talent be trusted?--can the genius? Not unless based on +truthfulness--on veracity. It is this quality more than any +other that commands the esteem and respect, and secures the +confidence of others. Truthfulness is at the foundation of all +personal excellence. It exhibits itself in conduct. It is +rectitude--truth in action, and shines through every word and +deed. It means reliableness, and convinces other men that it can +be trusted. And a man is already of consequence in the world when +it is known that he can be relied on,--that when he says he knows +a thing, he does know it,--that when be says he will do a thing, +he can do, and does it. Thus reliableness becomes a passport to +the general esteem and confidence of mankind. + +In the affairs of life or of business, it is not intellect that +tells so much as character,--not brains so much as heart,--not +genius so much as self-control, patience, and discipline, +regulated by judgment. Hence there is no better provision for the +uses of either private or public life, than a fair share of +ordinary good sense guided by rectitude. Good sense, disciplined +by experience and inspired by goodness, issues in practical +wisdom. Indeed, goodness in a measure implies wisdom--the +highest wisdom--the union of the worldly with the spiritual. +"The correspondences of wisdom and goodness," says Sir Henry +Taylor, "are manifold; and that they will accompany each other is +to be inferred, not only because men's wisdom makes them good, but +because their goodness makes them wise." (6) + +It is because of this controlling power of character in life that +we often see men exercise an amount of influence apparently out of +all proportion to their intellectual endowments. They appear to +act by means of some latent power, some reserved force, which acts +secretly, by mere presence. As Burke said of a powerful nobleman +of the last century, "his virtues were his means." The secret is, +that the aims of such men are felt to be pure and noble, and they +act upon others with a constraining power. + +Though the reputation of men of genuine character may be of slow +growth, their true qualities cannot be wholly concealed. They may +be misrepresented by some, and misunderstood by others; misfortune +and adversity may, for a time, overtake them but, with patience +and endurance, they will eventually inspire the respect and +command the confidence which they really deserve. + +It has been said of Sheridan that, had he possessed reliableness +of character, he might have ruled the world; whereas, for want of +it, his splendid gifts were comparatively useless. He dazzled and +amused, but was without weight or influence in life or politics. +Even the poor pantomimist of Drury Lane felt himself his superior. +Thus, when Delpini one day pressed the manager for arrears of +salary, Sheridan sharply reproved him, telling him he had +forgotten his station. "No, indeed, Monsieur Sheridan, I have +not," retorted Delpini; "I know the difference between us +perfectly well. In birth, parentage, and education, you are +superior to me; but in life, character, and behaviour, I am +superior to you." + +Unlike Sheridan, Burke, his countryman, was a great man of +character. He was thirty-five before be gained a seat in +Parliament, yet he found time to carve his name deep in the +political history of England. He was a man of great gifts, and of +transcendent force of character. Yet he had a weakness, which +proved a serious defect--it was his want of temper; his genius +was sacrificed to his irritability. And without this apparently +minor gift of temper, the most splendid endowments may be +comparatively valueless to their possessor. + +Character is formed by a variety of minute circumstances, more or +less under the regulation and control of the individual. Not a +day passes without its discipline, whether for good or for evil. +There is no act, however trivial, but has its train of +consequences, as there is no hair so small but casts its shadow. +It was a wise saying of Mrs. Schimmelpenninck's mother, never to +give way to what is little; or by that little, however you may +despise it, you will be practically governed. + +Every action, every thought, every feeling, contributes to the +education of the temper, the habits, and understanding; and +exercises an inevitable influence upon all the acts of our future +life. Thus character is undergoing constant change, for better or +for worse--either being elevated on the one hand, or degraded on +the other. "There is no fault nor folly of my life," says Mr. +Ruskin, "that does not rise up against me, and take away my joy, +and shorten my power of possession, of sight, of understanding. +And every past effort of my life, every gleam of rightness or good +in it, is with me now, to help me in my grasp of this art and its +vision." (7) + +The mechanical law, that action and reaction are equal, holds true +also in morals. Good deeds act and react on the doers of them; +and so do evil. Not only so: they produce like effects, by the +influence of example, on those who are the subjects of them. But +man is not the creature, so much as he is the creator, of +circumstances: (8) and, by the exercise of his freewill, he can +direct his actions so that they shall be productive of good rather +than evil. "Nothing can work me damage but myself," said St. +Bernard; "the harm that I sustain I carry about with me; and I am +never a real sufferer but by my own fault." + +The best sort of character, however, cannot be formed without +effort. There needs the exercise of constant self-watchfulness, +self-discipline, and self-control. There may be much faltering, +stumbling, and temporary defeat; difficulties and temptations +manifold to be battled with and overcome; but if the spirit be +strong and the heart be upright, no one need despair of ultimate +success. The very effort to advance--to arrive at a higher +standard of character than we have reached--is inspiring and +invigorating; and even though we may fall short of it, we cannot +fail to be improved by every, honest effort made in an upward +direction. + +And with the light of great examples to guide us--representatives +of humanity in its best forms--every one is not only justified, +but bound in duty, to aim at reaching the highest standard of +character: not to become the richest in means, but in spirit; not +the greatest in worldly position, but in true honour; not the most +intellectual, but the most virtuous; not the most powerful and +influential, but the most truthful, upright, and honest. + +It was very characteristic of the late Prince Consort--a man +himself of the purest mind, who powerfully impressed and +influenced others by the sheer force of his own benevolent nature +--when drawing up the conditions of the annual prize to be given +by Her Majesty at Wellington College, to determine that it should +be awarded, not to the cleverest boy, nor to the most bookish boy, +nor to the most precise, diligent, and prudent boy,--but to the +noblest boy, to the boy who should show the most promise of +becoming a large-hearted, high-motived man. (9) + +Character exhibits itself in conduct, guided and inspired by +principle, integrity, and practical wisdom. In its highest form, +it is the individual will acting energetically under the influence +of religion, morality, and reason. It chooses its way +considerately, and pursues it steadfastly; esteeming duty above +reputation, and the approval of conscience more than the world's +praise. While respecting the personality of others, it preserves +its own individuality and independence; and has the courage to be +morally honest, though it may be unpopular, trusting tranquilly to +time and experience for recognition. + +Although the force of example will always exercise great influence +upon the formation of character, the self-originating and +sustaining force of one's own spirit must be the mainstay. This +alone can hold up the life, and give individual independence and +energy. "Unless man can erect himself above himself," said +Daniel, a poet of the Elizabethan era, "how poor a thing is man!" +Without a certain degree of practical efficient force--compounded +of will, which is the root, and wisdom, which is the stem of +character--life will be indefinite and purposeless--like a body +of stagnant water, instead of a running stream doing useful work +and keeping the machinery of a district in motion. + +When the elements of character are brought into action by +determinate will, and, influenced by high purpose, man enters upon +and courageously perseveres in the path of duty, at whatever cost +of worldly interest, he may be said to approach the summit of his +being. He then exhibits character in its most intrepid form, and +embodies the highest idea of manliness. The acts of such a man +become repeated in the life and action of others. His very words +live and become actions. Thus every word of Luther's rang through +Germany like a trumpet. As Richter said of him, "His words were +half-battles." And thus Luther's life became transfused into the +life of his country, and still lives in the character of modern +Germany. + +On the other hand, energy, without integrity and a soul of +goodness, may only represent the embodied principle of evil. It +is observed by Novalis, in his 'Thoughts on Morals,' that the +ideal of moral perfection has no more dangerous rival to contend +with than the ideal of the highest strength and the most energetic +life, the maximum of the barbarian--which needs only a due +admixture of pride, ambition, and selfishness, to be a perfect +ideal of the devil. Amongst men of such stamp are found the +greatest scourges and devastators of the world--those elect +scoundrels whom Providence, in its inscrutable designs, permits to +fulfil their mission of destruction upon earth. (10) + +Very different is the man of energetic character inspired by a +noble spirit, whose actions are governed by rectitude, and the law +of whose life is duty. He is just and upright,--in his business +dealings, in his public action, and in his family life--justice +being as essential in the government of a home as of a nation. He +will be honest in all things--in his words and in his work. He +will be generous and merciful to his opponents, as well as to +those who are weaker than himself. It was truly said of Sheridan +--who, with all his improvidence, was generous, and never gave +pain--that + + "His wit in the combat, as gentle as bright, + Never carried a heart-stain away on its blade." + +Such also was the character of Fox, who commanded the affection +and service of others by his uniform heartiness and sympathy. He +was a man who could always be most easily touched on the side of +his honour. Thus, the story is told of a tradesman calling upon +him one day for the payment of a promissory note which he +presented. Fox was engaged at the time in counting out gold. The +tradesman asked to be paid from the money before him. "No," said +Fox, "I owe this money to Sheridan; it is a debt of honour; if any +accident happened to me, he would have nothing to show." "Then," +said the tradesman, "I change MY debt into one of honour;" and he +tore up the note. Fox was conquered by the act: he thanked the +man for his confidence, and paid him, saying, "Then Sheridan must +wait; yours is the debt of older standing." + +The man of character is conscientious. He puts his conscience +into his work, into his words, into his every action. When +Cromwell asked the Parliament for soldiers in lieu of the decayed +serving-men and tapsters who filled the Commonwealth's army, he +required that they should be men "who made some conscience of what +they did;" and such were the men of which his celebrated regiment +of "Ironsides" was composed. + +The man of character is also reverential. The possession of this +quality marks the noblest, and highest type of manhood and +womanhood: reverence for things consecrated by the homage of +generations--for high objects, pure thoughts, and noble aims-- +for the great men of former times, and the highminded workers +amongst our contemporaries. Reverence is alike indispensable to +the happiness of individuals, of families, and of nations. +Without it there can be no trust, no faith, no confidence, either +in man or God--neither social peace nor social progress. For +reverence is but another word for religion, which binds men to +each other, and all to God. + +"The man of noble spirit," says Sir Thomas Overbury, "converts all +occurrences into experience, between which experience and his +reason there is marriage, and the issue are his actions. He moves +by affection, not for affection; he loves glory, scorns shame, and +governeth and obeyeth with one countenance, for it comes from one +consideration. Knowing reason to be no idle gift of nature, he is +the steersman of his own destiny. Truth is his goddess, and he +takes pains to get her, not to look like her. Unto the society of +men he is a sun, whose clearness directs their steps in a regular +motion. He is the wise man's friend, the example of the +indifferent, the medicine of the vicious. Thus time goeth not +from him, but with him, and he feels age more by the strength of +his soul than by the weakness of his body. Thus feels he no pain, +but esteems all such things as friends, that desire to file off +his fetters, and help him out of prison." (11) + +Energy of will--self-originating force--is the soul of every +great character. Where it is, there is life; where it is not, +there is faintness, helplessness, and despondency. "The strong +man and the waterfall," says the proverb, "channel their own +path." The energetic leader of noble spirit not only wins a way +for himself, but carries others with him. His every act has a +personal significance, indicating vigour, independence, and self- +reliance, and unconsciously commands respect, admiration, and +homage. Such intrepidity of character characterised Luther, +Cromwell, Washington, Pitt, Wellington, and all great leaders +of men. + +"I am convinced," said Mr. Gladstone, in describing the qualities +of the late Lord Palmerston in the House of Commons, shortly after +his death--"I am convinced that it was the force of will, a sense +of duty, and a determination not to give in, that enabled him to +make himself a model for all of us who yet remain and follow him, +with feeble and unequal steps, in the discharge of our duties; it +was that force of will that in point of fact did not so much +struggle against the infirmities of old age, but actually repelled +them and kept them at a distance. And one other quality there is, +at least, that may be noticed without the smallest risk of +stirring in any breast a painful emotion. It is this, that Lord +Palmerston had a nature incapable of enduring anger or any +sentiment of wrath. This freedom from wrathful sentiment was not +the result of painful effort, but the spontaneous fruit of the +mind. It was a noble gift of his original nature--a gift which +beyond all others it was delightful to observe, delightful also to +remember in connection with him who has left us, and with whom we +have no longer to do, except in endeavouring to profit by his +example wherever it can lead us in the path of duty and of right, +and of bestowing on him those tributes of admiration and affection +which he deserves at our hands." + +The great leader attracts to himself men of kindred character, +drawing them towards him as the loadstone draws iron. Thus, Sir +John Moore early distinguished the three brothers Napier from the +crowd of officers by whom he was surrounded, and they, on their +part, repaid him by their passionate admiration. They were +captivated by his courtesy, his bravery, and his lofty +disinterestedness; and he became the model whom they resolved to +imitate, and, if possible, to emulate. "Moore's influence," says +the biographer of Sir William Napier, "had a signal effect in +forming and maturing their characters; and it is no small glory to +have been the hero of those three men, while his early discovery +of their mental and moral qualities is a proof of Moore's own +penetration and judgment of character." + +There is a contagiousness in every example of energetic conduct. +The brave man is an inspiration to the weak, and compels them, as +it were, to follow him. Thus Napier relates that at the combat of +Vera, when the Spanish centre was broken and in flight, a young +officer, named Havelock, sprang forward, and, waving his hat, +called upon the Spaniards within sight to follow him. Putting +spurs to his horse, he leapt the abbatis which protected the +French front, and went headlong against them. The Spaniards were +electrified; in a moment they dashed after him, cheering for "EL +CHICO BLANCO!" (the fair boy), and with one shock they broke +through the French and sent them flying downhill. (12) + +And so it is in ordinary life. The good and the great draw others +after them; they lighten and lift up all who are within reach of +their influence. They are as so many living centres of beneficent +activity. Let a man of energetic and upright character be +appointed to a position of trust and authority, and all who serve +under him become, as it were, conscious of an increase of power. +When Chatham was appointed minister, his personal influence was at +once felt through all the ramifications of office. Every sailor +who served under Nelson, and knew he was in command, shared the +inspiration of the hero. + +When Washington consented to act as commander-in-chief, it was +felt as if the strength of the American forces had been more than +doubled. Many years late; in 1798, when Washington, grown old, +had withdrawn from public life and was living in retirement at +Mount Vernon, and when it seemed probable that France would +declare war against the United States, President Adams wrote to +him, saying, "We must have your name, if you will permit us to use +it; there will be more efficacy in it than in many an army." Such +was the esteem in which the great President's noble character and +eminent abilities were held by his countrymen! (13) + +An incident is related by the historian of the Peninsular War, +illustrative of the personal influence exercised by a great +commander over his followers. The British army lay at Sauroren, +before which Soult was advancing, prepared to attack, in force. +Wellington was absent, and his arrival was anxiously looked for. +Suddenly a single horseman was seen riding up the mountain alone. +It was the Duke, about to join his troops. One of Campbell's +Portuguese battalions first descried him, and raised a joyful cry; +then the shrill clamour, caught up by the next regiment, soon +swelled as it ran along the line into that appalling shout which +the British soldier is wont to give upon the edge of battle, and +which no enemy ever heard unmoved. Suddenly he stopped at a +conspicuous point, for he desired both armies should know he was +there, and a double spy who was present pointed out Soult, who was +so near that his features could be distinguished. Attentively +Wellington fixed his eyes on that formidable man, and, as if +speaking to himself, he said: "Yonder is a great commander; but he +is cautious, and will delay his attack to ascertain the cause of +those cheers; that will give time for the Sixth Division to +arrive, and I shall beat him"--which he did. (14) + +In some cases, personal character acts by a kind of talismanic +influence, as if certain men were the organs of a sort of +supernatural force. "If I but stamp on the ground in Italy," said +Pompey, "an army will appear." At the voice of Peter the Hermit, +as described by the historian, "Europe arose, and precipitated +itself upon Asia." It was said of the Caliph Omar that his +walking-stick struck more terror into those who saw it than +another man's sword. The very names of some men are like the +sound of a trumpet. When the Douglas lay mortally wounded on the +field of Otterburn, he ordered his name to be shouted still louder +than before, saying there was a tradition in his family that a +dead Douglas should win a battle. His followers, inspired by the +sound, gathered fresh courage, rallied, and conquered; and thus, +in the words of the Scottish poet:- + +"The Douglas dead, his name hath won the field." (15) + +There have been some men whose greatest conquests have been +achieved after they themselves were dead. "Never," says Michelet, +"was Caesar more alive, more powerful, more terrible, than when +his old and worn-out body, his withered corpse, lay pierced with +blows; he appeared then purified, redeemed,--that which he had +been, despite his many stains--the man of humanity." (16) Never +did the great character of William of Orange, surnamed the Silent, +exercise greater power over his countrymen than after his +assassination at Delft by the emissary of the Jesuits. On the +very day of his murder the Estates of Holland resolved "to +maintain the good cause, with God's help, to the uttermost, +without sparing gold or blood;" and they kept their word. + +The same illustration applies to all history and morals. The +career of a great man remains an enduring monument of human. +energy. The man dies and disappears; but his thoughts and acts +survive, and leave an indelible stamp upon his race. And thus the +spirit of his life is prolonged and perpetuated, moulding the +thought and will, and thereby contributing to form the character +of the future. It is the men that advance in the highest and best +directions, who are the true beacons of human progress. They are +as lights set upon a hill, illumining the moral atmosphere around +them; and the light of their spirit continues to shine upon all +succeeding generations. + +It is natural to admire and revere really great men. They hallow +the nation to which they belong, and lift up not only all who live +in their time, but those who live after them. Their great example +becomes the common heritage of their race; and their great deeds +and great thoughts are the most glorious of legacies to mankind. +They connect the present with the past, and help on the increasing +purpose of the future; holding aloft the standard of principle, +maintaining the dignity of human character, and filling the mind +with traditions and instincts of all that is most worthy and +noble in life. + +Character, embodied in thought and deed, is of the nature of +immortality. The solitary thought of a great thinker will dwell +in the minds of men for centuries until at length it works itself +into their daily life and practice. It lives on through the ages, +speaking as a voice from the dead, and influencing minds living +thousands of years apart. Thus, Moses and David and Solomon, +Plato and Socrates and Xenophon, Seneca and Cicero and Epictetus, +still speak to us as from their tombs. They still arrest the +attention, and exercise an influence upon character, though their +thoughts be conveyed in languages unspoken by them and in their +time unknown. Theodore Parker has said that a single man like +Socrates was worth more to a country than many such states as +South Carolina; that if that state went out of the world to-day, +she would not have done so much for the world as Socrates. (17) + +Great workers and great thinkers are the true makers of history, +which is but continuous humanity influenced by men of character-- +by great leaders, kings, priests, philosophers, statesmen, and +patriots--the true aristocracy of man. Indeed, Mr. Carlyle has +broadly stated that Universal History is, at bottom, but the +history of Great Men. They certainly mark and designate the +epochs of national life. Their influence is active, as well as +reactive. Though their mind is, in a measure; the product of +their age, the public mind is also, to a great extent, their +creation. Their individual action identifies the cause--the +institution. They think great thoughts, cast them abroad, and the +thoughts make events. Thus the early Reformers initiated the +Reformation, and with it the liberation of modern thought. +Emerson has said that every institution is to be regarded as but +the lengthened shadow of some great man: as Islamism of Mahomet, +Puritanism of Calvin, Jesuitism of Loyola, Quakerism of Fox, +Methodism of Wesley, Abolitionism of Clarkson. + +Great men stamp their mind upon their age and nation--as Luther +did upon modern Germany, and Knox upon Scotland. (18) And if there +be one man more than another that stamped his mind on modern +Italy, it was Dante. During the long centuries of Italian +degradation his burning words were as a watchfire and a beacon to +all true men. He was the herald of his nation's liberty--braving +persecution, exile, and death, for the love of it. He was always +the most national of the Italian poets, the most loved, the most +read. From the time of his death all educated Italians had his +best passages by heart; and the sentiments they enshrined +inspired their lives, and eventually influenced the history +of their nation. "The Italians," wrote Byron in 1821, +"talk Dante, write Dante, and think and dream Dante, at this +moment, to an excess which would be ridiculous, but that he +deserves their admiration." (19) + +A succession of variously gifted men in different ages--extending +from Alfred to Albert--has in like manner contributed, by their +life and example, to shape the multiform character of England. Of +these, probably the most influential were the men of the +Elizabethan and Cromwellian, and the intermediate periods-- +amongst which we find the great names of Shakspeare, Raleigh, +Burleigh, Sidney, Bacon, Milton, Herbert, Hampden, Pym, Eliot, +Vane, Cromwell, and many more--some of them men of great force, +and others of great dignity and purity of character. The lives of +such men have become part of the public life of England, and their +deeds and thoughts are regarded as among the most cherished +bequeathments from the past. + +So Washington left behind him, as one of the greatest treasures of +his country, the example of a stainless life--of a great, honest, +pure, and noble character--a model for his nation to form +themselves by in all time to come. And in the case of Washington, +as in so many other great leaders of men, his greatness did not so +much consist in his intellect, his skill, and his genius, as in +his honour, his integrity, his truthfulness, his high and +controlling sense of duty--in a word, in his genuine nobility +of character. + +Men such as these are the true lifeblood of the country to which +they belong. They elevate and uphold it, fortify and ennoble it, +and shed a glory over it by the example of life and character +which they have bequeathed. "The names and memories of great +men," says an able writer, "are the dowry of a nation. Widowhood, +overthrow, desertion, even slavery, cannot take away from her this +sacred inheritance.... Whenever national life begins to +quicken.... the dead heroes rise in the memories of men, and +appear to the living to stand by in solemn spectatorship and +approval. No country can be lost which feels herself overlooked +by such glorious witnesses. They are the salt of the earth, in +death as well as in life. What they did once, their descendants +have still and always a right to do after them; and their example +lives in their country, a continual stimulant and encouragement +for him who has the soul to adopt it." (20) + +But it is not great men only that have to be taken into account in +estimating the qualities of a nation, but the character that +pervades the great body of the people. When Washington Irving +visited Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scott introduced him to many of his +friends and favourites, not only amongst the neighbouring farmers, +but the labouring peasantry. "I wish to show you," said Scott, +"some of our really excellent plain Scotch people. The character +of a nation is not to be learnt from its fine folks, its fine +gentlemen and ladies; such you meet everywhere, and they are +everywhere the same." While statesmen, philosophers, and divines +represent the thinking power of society, the men who found +industries and carve out new careers, as well as the common body +of working-people, from whom the national strength and spirit are +from time to time recruited, must necessarily furnish the vital +force and constitute the real backbone of every nation. + +Nations have their character to maintain as well as individuals; +and under constitutional governments--where all classes more or +less participate in the exercise of political power--the national +character will necessarily depend more upon the moral qualities of +the many than of the few. And the same qualities which determine +the character of individuals, also determine the character of +nations. Unless they are highminded, truthful, honest, virtuous, +and courageous, they will be held in light esteem by other +nations, and be without weight in the world. To have character, +they must needs also be reverential, disciplined, self- +controlling, and devoted to duty. The nation that has no higher +god than pleasure, or even dollars or calico, must needs be in a +poor way. It were better to revert to Homer's gods than be +devoted to these; for the heathen deities at least imaged human +virtues, and were something to look up to. + +As for institutions, however good in themselves, they will avail +but little in maintaining the standard of national character. It +is the individual men, and the spirit which actuates them, that +determine the moral standing and stability of nations. +Government, in the long run, is usually no better than the people +governed. Where the mass is sound in conscience, morals, and +habit, the nation will be ruled honestly and nobly. But where +they are corrupt, self-seeking, and dishonest in heart, bound +neither by truth nor by law, the rule of rogues and wirepullers +becomes inevitable. + +The only true barrier against the despotism of public opinion, +whether it be of the many or of the few, is enlightened individual +freedom and purity of personal character. Without these there can +be no vigorous manhood, no true liberty in a nation. Political +rights, however broadly framed, will not elevate a people +individually depraved. Indeed, the more complete a system of +popular suffrage, and the more perfect its protection, the more +completely will the real character of a people be reflected, as by +a mirror, in their laws and government. Political morality can +never have any solid existence on a basis of individual +immorality. Even freedom, exercised by a debased people, would +come to be regarded as a nuisance, and liberty of the press but a +vent for licentiousness and moral abomination. + +Nations, like individuals, derive support and strength from the +feeling that they belong to an illustrious race, that they are the +heirs of their greatness, and ought to be the perpetuators of +their glory. It is of momentous importance that a nation should +have a great past (21) to look back upon. It steadies the life of +the present, elevates and upholds it, and lightens and lifts it +up, by the memory of the great deeds, the noble sufferings, and +the valorous achievements of the men of old. The life of nations, +as of men, is a great treasury of experience, which, wisely used, +issues in social progress and improvement; or, misused, issues in +dreams, delusions, and failure. Like men, nations are purified +and strengthened by trials. Some of the most glorious chapters in +their history are those containing the record of the sufferings by +means of which their character has been developed. Love of +liberty and patriotic feeling may have done much, but trial and +suffering nobly borne more than all. + +A great deal of what passes by the name of patriotism in these +days consists of the merest bigotry and narrow-mindedness; +exhibiting itself in national prejudice, national conceit, amid +national hatred. It does not show itself in deeds, but in +boastings--in howlings, gesticulations, and shrieking helplessly +for help--in flying flags and singing songs--and in perpetual +grinding at the hurdy-gurdy of long-dead grievances and long- +remedied wrongs. To be infested by SUCH a patriotism as this is, +perhaps, amongst the greatest curses that can befall any country. + +But as there is an ignoble, so is there a noble patriotism--the +patriotism that invigorates and elevates a country by noble work-- +that does its duty truthfully and manfully--that lives an honest, +sober, and upright life, and strives to make the best use of the +opportunities for improvement that present themselves on every +side; and at the same time a patriotism that cherishes the memory +and example of the great men of old, who, by their sufferings in +the cause of religion or of freedom, have won for themselves a +deathless glory, and for their nation those privileges of free +life and free institutions of which they are the inheritors and +possessors. + +Nations are not to be judged by their size any more than +individuals: + + "it is not growing like a tree + In bulk, doth make Man better be." + +For a nation to be great, it need not necessarily be big, though +bigness is often confounded with greatness. A nation may be very +big in point of territory and population and yet be devoid of true +greatness. The people of Israel were a small people, yet what a +great life they developed, and how powerful the influence they +have exercised on the destinies of mankind! Greece was not big: +the entire population of Attica was less than that of South +Lancashire. Athens was less populous than New York; and yet how +great it was in art, in literature, in philosophy, and in +patriotism! (22) + +But it was the fatal weakness of Athens that its citizens had no +true family or home life, while its freemen were greatly +outnumbered by its slaves. Its public men were loose, if not +corrupt, in morals. Its women, even the most accomplished, were +unchaste. Hence its fall became inevitable, and was even more +sudden than its rise. + +In like manner the decline and fall of Rome was attributable to +the general corruption of its people, and to their engrossing love +of pleasure and idleness--work, in the later days of Rome, being +regarded only as fit for slaves. Its citizens ceased to pride +themselves on the virtues of character of their great forefathers; +and the empire fell because it did not deserve to live. And so +the nations that are idle and luxurious--that "will rather lose a +pound of blood," as old Burton says, "in a single combat, than a +drop of sweat in any honest labour"--must inevitably die out, and +laborious energetic nations take their place. + +When Louis XIV. asked Colbert how it was that, ruling so great and +populous a country as France, he had been unable to conquer so +small a country as Holland, the minister replied: "Because, Sire, +the greatness of a country does not depend upon the extent of its +territory, but on the character of its people. It is because of +the industry, the frugality, and the energy of the Dutch that your +Majesty has found them so difficult to overcome." + +It is also related of Spinola and Richardet, the ambassadors sent +by the King of Spain to negotiate a treaty at the Hague in 1608, +that one day they saw some eight or ten persons land from a little +boat, and, sitting down upon the grass, proceed to make a meal of +bread-and-cheese and beer. "Who are those travellers asked the +ambassadors of a peasant. "These are worshipful masters, the +deputies from the States," was his reply. Spinola at once +whispered to his companion, "We must make peace: these are not men +to be conquered." + +In fine, stability of institutions must depend upon stability of +character. Any number of depraved units cannot form a great +nation. The people may seem to be highly civilised, and yet be +ready to fall to pieces at first touch of adversity. Without +integrity of individual character, they can have no real strength, +cohesion, soundness. They may be rich, polite, and artistic; and +yet hovering on the brink of ruin. If living for themselves only, +and with no end but pleasure--each little self his own little god +--such a nation is doomed, and its decay is inevitable. + +Where national character ceases to be upheld, a nation may be +regarded as next to lost. Where it ceases to esteem and to +practise the virtues of truthfulness, honesty, integrity, and +justice, it does not deserve to live. And when the time arrives +in any country when wealth has so corrupted, or pleasure so +depraved, or faction so infatuated the people, that honour, order, +obedience, virtue, and loyalty have seemingly become things of the +past; then, amidst the darkness, when honest men--if, haply, +there be such left--are groping about and feeling for each +other's hands, their only remaining hope will be in the +restoration and elevation of Individual Character; for by that +alone can a nation be saved; and if character be irrecoverably +lost, then indeed there will be nothing left worth saving. + + + +NOTES + +(1) Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, Lord High Treasurer under Elizabeth +and James I. + +(2) 'Life of Perthes,' ii. 217. + +(3) Lockhart's 'Life of Scott.' + +(4) Debate on the Petition of Right, A.D. 1628. + +(5) The Rev. F. W. Farrer's 'Seekers after God,' p. 241. + +(6) 'The Statesman,' p. 30. + +(7) 'Queen of the Air,' p. 127 + +(8) Instead of saying that man is the creature of Circumstance, it +would be nearer the mark to say that man is the architect of +Circumstance. It is Character which builds an existence out of +Circumstance. Our strength is measured by our plastic power. +From the same materials one man builds palaces, another hovels: +one warehouses, another villas. Bricks and mortar are mortar and +bricks, until the architect can make them something else. Thus it +is that in the same family, in the same circumstances, one man +rears a stately edifice, while his brother, vacillating and +incompetent, lives for ever amid ruins: the block of granite, +which was an obstacle on the pathway of the weak, becomes a +stepping-stone on the pathway of the strong."--G. H. Lewes, LIFE +OF GOETHE. + +(9) Introduction to 'The Principal Speeches and Addresses of +H.R.H. the Prince Consort' (1862), pp. 39-40. + +(10) Among the latest of these was Napoleon "the Great," a man of +abounding energy, but destitute of principle. He had the lowest +opinion of his fellowmen. "Men are hogs, who feed on gold," he +once said: "Well, I throw them gold, and lead them whithersoever I +will." When the Abbe de Pradt, Archbishop of Malines, was setting +out on his embassy to Poland in 1812, Napoleon's parting +instruction to him was, "Tenez bonne table et soignez les femmes," +--of which Benjamin Constant said that such an observation, +addressed to a feeble priest of sixty, shows Buonaparte's profound +contempt for the human race, without distinction of nation or sex. + +(11) Condensed from Sir Thomas Overbury's 'Characters' (1614). + +(12) 'History of the Peninsular War,' v. 319.--Napier mentions +another striking illustration of the influence of personal +qualities in young Edward Freer, of the same regiment (the 43rd), +who, when he fell at the age of nineteen, at the Battle of the +Nivelle, had already seen more combats and sieges than he could +count years. "So slight in person, and of such surpassing beauty, +that the Spaniards often thought him a girl disguised in man's +clothing, he was yet so vigorous, so active, so brave, that the +most daring and experienced veterans watched his looks on the +field of battle, and, implicitly following where he led, would, +like children, obey his slightest sign in the most difficult +situations." + +(13) When the dissolution of the Union at one time seemed +imminent, and Washington wished to retire into private life, +Jefferson wrote to him, urging his continuance in office. "The +confidence of the whole Union," he said, "centres in you. Your +being at the helm will be more than an answer to every argument +which can be used to alarm and lead the people in any quarter into +violence and secession.... There is sometimes an eminence of +character on which society has such peculiar claims as to control +the predilection of the individual for a particular walk of +happiness, and restrain him to that alone arising from the present +and future benedictions of mankind. This seems to be your +condition, and the law imposed on you by Providence in forming +your character and fashioning the events on which it was to +operate; and it is to motives like these, and not to personal +anxieties of mine or others, who have no right to call on you for +sacrifices, that I appeal from your former determination, and urge +a revisal of it, on the ground of change in the aspect of +things."--Sparks' Life of Washington, i. 480. + +(14) Napier's 'History of the Peninsular War,' v. 226. + +(15) Sir W. Scott's 'History of Scotland,' vol. i. chap. xvi. + +(16) Michelet's 'History of Rome,' p. 374. + +(17) Erasmus so reverenced the character of Socrates that he said, +when he considered his life and doctrines, he was inclined to put +him in the calendar of saints, and to exclaim, "SANCTE SOCRATES, +ORA PRO NOBIS.'" (Holy Socrates, pray for us! + +(18) "Honour to all the brave and true; everlasting honour to John +Knox one of the truest of the true! That, in the moment while he +and his cause, amid civil broils, in convulsion and confusion, +were still but struggling for life, he sent the schoolmaster forth +to all corners, and said, 'Let the people be taught:' this is but +one, and, and indeed, an inevitable and comparatively +inconsiderable item in his great message to men. This message, in +its true compass, was, 'Let men know that they are men created by +God, responsible to God who work in any meanest moment of time +what will last through eternity...' This great message Knox did +deliver, with a man's voice and strength; and found a people to +believe him. Of such an achievement, were it to be made once +only, the results are immense. Thought, in such a country, may +change its form, but cannot go out; the country has attained +MAJORITY thought, and a certain manhood, ready for all work that +man can do, endures there.... The Scotch national character +originated in many circumstances: first of all, in the Saxon stuff +there was to work on; but next, and beyond all else except that, +is the Presbyterian Gospel of John Knox."--(Carlyle' s +MISCELLANIES, iv. 118. + +(19) Moore's 'Life of Byron,' 8vo. ed. p.484.--Dante was a +religious as well as a political reformer. He was a reformer +three hundred years before the Reformation, advocating the +separation of the spiritual from the civil power, and declaring +the temporal government of the Pope to be a usurpation. The +following memorable words were written over five hundred and sixty +years ago, while Dante was still a member of the Roman Catholic +Church:- "Every Divine law is found in one or other of the two +Testaments; but in neither can I find that the care of temporal +matters was given to the priesthood. On the contrary, I find that +the first priests were removed from them by law, and the later +priests, by command of Christ, to His disciples."--DE MONARCHIA, +lib. iii. cap. xi. + +Dante also, still clinging to 'the Church he wished to reform,' +thus anticipated the fundamental doctrine of the Reformation:- +"Before the Church are the Old and New Testament; after the +Church are traditions. It follows, then, that the authority +of the Church depends, not on traditions, but traditions +on the Church." + +(20) 'Blackwood's Magazine,' June, 1863, art. 'Girolamo +Savonarola.' + +(21) One of the last passages in the Diary of Dr. Arnold, written +the year before his death, was as follows:- "It is the misfortune +of France that her 'past' cannot be loved or respected--her +future and her present cannot be wedded to it; yet how can the +present yield fruit, or the future have promise, except their +roots be fixed in the past? The evil is infinite, but the blame +rests with those who made the past a dead thing, out of which no +healthful life could be produced."--LIFE, ii. 387-8, Ed. 1858. + +(22) A public orator lately spoke with contempt of the Battle of +Marathon, because only 192 perished on the side of the Athenians, +whereas by improved mechanism and destructive chemicals, some +50,000 men or more may now be destroyed within a few hours. Yet +the Battle of Marathon, and the heroism displayed in it, will +probably continue to be remembered when the gigantic butcheries of +modern times have been forgotten. + + + +CHAPTER II.--HOME POWER. + + + + "So build we up the being that we are, + Thus deeply drinking in the soul of things, + We shall be wise perforce." WORDSWORTH. + + "The millstreams that turn the clappers of the world + arise in solitary places."--HELPS. + +"In the course of a conversation with Madame Campan, Napoleon +Buonaparte remarked: 'The old systems of instruction seem to be +worth nothing; what is yet wanting in order that the people should +be properly educated?' 'MOTHERS,' replied Madame Campan. The +reply struck the Emperor. 'Yes!' said he 'here is a system of +education in one word. Be it your care, then, to train up mothers +who shall know how to educate their children.'"--AIME MARTIN. + + "Lord! with what care hast Thou begirt us round! + Parents first season us. Then schoolmasters + Deliver us to laws. They send us bound + To rules of reason."--GEORGE HERBERT. + + +HOME is the first and most important school of character. It is +there that every human being receives his best moral training, or +his worst; for it is there that he imbibes those principles of +conduct which endure through manhood, and cease only with life. + +It is a common saying that "Manners make the man;" and there is a +second, that "Mind makes the man;" but truer than either is a +third, that "Home makes the man." For the home-training includes +not only manners and mind, but character. It is mainly in the +home that the heart is opened, the habits are formed, the +intellect is awakened, and character moulded for good or for evil. + +From that source, be it pure or impure, issue the principles and +maxims that govern society. Law itself is but the reflex of +homes. The tiniest bits of opinion sown in the minds of children +in private life afterwards issue forth to the world, and become +its public opinion; for nations are gathered out of nurseries, and +they who hold the leading-strings of children may even exercise a +greater power than those who wield the reins of government. (1) + +It is in the order of nature that domestic life should be +preparatory to social, and that the mind and character should +first be formed in the home. There the individuals who afterwards +form society are dealt with in detail, and fashioned one by one. +From the family they enter life, and advance from boyhood to +citizenship. Thus the home may be regarded as the most +influential school of civilisation. For, after all, civilisation +mainly resolves itself into a question of individual training; and +according as the respective members of society are well or ill- +trained in youth, so will the community which they constitute be +more or less humanised and civilised. + +The training of any man, even the wisest, cannot fail to be +powerfully influenced by the moral surroundings of his early +years. He comes into the world helpless, and absolutely dependent +upon those about him for nurture and culture. From the very first +breath that he draws, his education begins. When a mother once +asked a clergyman when she should begin the education of her +child, then four years old, he replied: "Madam, if you have not +begun already, you have lost those four years. From the first +smile that gleams upon an infant's cheek, your opportunity +begins." + +But even in this case the education had already begun; for the +child learns by simple imitation, without effort, almost through +the pores of the skin. "A figtree looking on a figtree becometh +fruitful," says the Arabian proverb. And so it is with children; +their first great instructor is example. + +However apparently trivial the influences which contribute to form +the character of the child, they endure through life. The child's +character is the nucleus of the man's; all after-education is but +superposition; the form of the crystal remains the same. Thus the +saying of the poet holds true in a large degree, "The child is +father of the man;" or, as Milton puts it, "The childhood shows +the man, as morning shows the day." Those impulses to conduct +which last the longest and are rooted the deepest, always have +their origin near our birth. It is then that the germs of virtues +or vices, of feelings or sentiments, are first implanted which +determine the character for life. + +The child is, as it were, laid at the gate of a new world, and +opens his eyes upon things all of which are full of novelty and +wonderment. At first it is enough for him to gaze; but by-and-by +he begins to see, to observe, to compare, to learn, to store up +impressions and ideas; and under wise guidance the progress which +he makes is really wonderful. Lord Brougham has observed that +between the ages of eighteen and thirty months, a child learns +more of the material world, of his own powers, of the nature of +other bodies, and even of his own mind and other minds, than he +acquires in all the rest of his life. The knowledge which a child +accumulates, and the ideas generated in his mind, during this +period, are so important, that if we could imagine them to be +afterwards obliterated, all the learning of a senior wrangler at +Cambridge, or a first-classman at Oxford, would be as nothing to +it, and would literally not enable its object to prolong his +existence for a week. + +It is in childhood that the mind is most open to impressions, and +ready to be kindled by the first spark that falls into it. Ideas +are then caught quickly and live lastingly. Thus Scott is said to +have received, his first bent towards ballad literature from his +mother's and grandmother's recitations in his hearing long before +he himself had learned to read. Childhood is like a mirror, which +reflects in after-life the images first presented to it. The first +thing continues for ever with the child. The first joy, the first +sorrow, the first success, the first failure, the first +achievement, the first misadventure, paint the foreground of +his life. + +All this while, too, the training of the character is in progress +--of the temper, the will, and the habits--on which so much of +the happiness of human beings in after-life depends. Although man +is endowed with a certain self-acting, self-helping power of +contributing to his own development, independent of surrounding +circumstances, and of reacting upon the life around him, the bias +given to his moral character in early life is of immense +importance. Place even the highest-minded philosopher in the +midst of daily discomfort, immorality, and vileness, and he will +insensibly gravitate towards brutality. How much more susceptible +is the impressionable and helpless child amidst such surroundings! +It is not possible to rear a kindly nature, sensitive to evil, +pure in mind and heart, amidst coarseness, discomfort, and +impurity. + +Thus homes, which are the nurseries of children who grow up into +men and women, will be good or bad according to the power that +governs them. Where the spirit of love and duty pervades the home +--where head and heart bear rule wisely there--where the daily +life is honest and virtuous--where the government is sensible, +kind, and loving, then may we expect from such a home an issue of +healthy, useful, and happy beings, capable, as they gain the +requisite strength, of following the footsteps of their parents, +of walking uprightly, governing themselves wisely, and +contributing to the welfare of those about them. + +On the other hand, if surrounded by ignorance, coarseness, and +selfishness, they will unconsciously assume the same character, +and grow up to adult years rude, uncultivated, and all the more +dangerous to society if placed amidst the manifold temptations of +what is called civilised life. "Give your child to be educated by +a slave," said an ancient Greek, "and instead of one slave, you +will then have two." + +The child cannot help imitating what he sees. Everything is to +him a model--of manner, of gesture, of speech, of habit, of +character. "For the child," says Richter, "the most important era +of life is that of childhood, when he begins to colour and mould +himself by companionship with others. Every new educator effects +less than his predecessor; until at last, if we regard all life as +an educational institution, a circumnavigator of the world is less +influenced by all the nations he has seen than by his nurse." (2) +Models are therefore of every importance in moulding the nature of +the child; and if we would have fine characters, we must +necessarily present before them fine models. Now, the model most +constantly before every child's eye is the Mother. + +One good mother, said George Herbert, is worth a hundred +schoolmasters. In the home she is "loadstone to all hearts, and +loadstar to all eyes." Imitation of her is constant--imitation, +which Bacon likens to "a globe of precepts." But example is far +more than precept. It is instruction in action. It is teaching +without words, often exemplifying more than tongue can teach. In +the face of bad example, the best of precepts are of but little +avail. The example is followed, not the precepts. Indeed, +precept at variance with practice is worse than useless, inasmuch +as it only serves to teach the most cowardly of vices--hypocrisy. +Even children are judges of consistency, and the lessons of the +parent who says one thing and does the opposite, are quickly seen +through. The teaching of the friar was not worth much, who +preached the virtue of honesty with a stolen goose in his sleeve. + +By imitation of acts, the character becomes slowly and +imperceptibly, but at length decidedly formed. The several acts +may seem in themselves trivial; but so are the continuous acts of +daily life. Like snowflakes, they. fall unperceived; each flake +added to the pile produces no sensible change, and yet the +accumulation of snowflakes makes the avalanche. So do repeated +acts, one following another, at length become consolidated in +habit, determine the action of the human being for good or for +evil, and, in a word, form the character. + +It is because the mother, far more than the father, influences the +action and conduct of the child, that her good example is of so +much greater importance in the home. It is easy to understand how +this should be so. The home is the woman's domain--her kingdom, +where she exercises entire control. Her power over the little +subjects she rules there is absolute. They look up to her for +everything. She is the example and model constantly before their +eyes, whom they unconsciously observe and imitate. + +Cowley, speaking of the influence of early example, and ideas +early implanted in the mind, compares them to letters cut in the +bark of a young tree, which grow and widen with age. The +impressions then made, howsoever slight they may seem, are never +effaced. The ideas then implanted in the mind are like seeds +dropped into the ground, which lie there and germinate for a time, +afterwards springing up in acts and thoughts and habits. Thus the +mother lives again in her children. They unconsciously mould +themselves after her manner, her speech, her conduct, and her +method of life. Her habits become theirs; and her character is +visibly repeated in them. + +This maternal love is the visible providence of our race. Its +influence is constant and universal. It begins with the education +of the human being at the out-start of life, and is prolonged by +virtue of the powerful influence which every good mother exercises +over her children through life. When launched into the world, +each to take part in its labours, anxieties, and trials, they +still turn to their mother for consolation, if not for counsel, in +their time of trouble and difficulty. The pure and good thoughts +she has implanted in their minds when children, continue to grow +up into good acts, long after she is dead; and when there is +nothing but a memory of her left, her children rise up and +call her blessed. + +It is not saying too much to aver that the happiness or misery, +the enlightenment or ignorance, the civilisation or barbarism of +the world, depends in a very high degree upon the exercise of +woman's power within her special kingdom of home. Indeed, Emerson +says, broadly and truly, that "a sufficient measure of +civilisation is the influence of good women." Posterity may be +said to lie before us in the person of the child in the mother's +lap. What that child will eventually become, mainly depends upon +the training and example which he has received from his first and +most influential educator. + +Woman, above all other educators, educates humanly. Man is the +brain, but woman is the heart of humanity; he its judgment, she +its feeling; he its strength, she its grace, ornament, and solace. +Even the understanding of the best woman seems to work mainly +through her affections. And thus, though man may direct the +intellect, woman cultivates the feelings, which mainly determine +the character. While he fills the memory, she occupies the heart. +She makes us love what he can only make us believe, and it is +chiefly through her that we are enabled to arrive at virtue. + +The respective influences of the father and the mother on the +training and development of character, are remarkably illustrated +in the life of St. Augustine. While Augustine's father, a poor +freeman of Thagaste, proud of his son's abilities, endeavoured to +furnish his mind with the highest learning of the schools, and was +extolled by his neighbours for the sacrifices he made with that +object "beyond the ability of his means"--his mother Monica, on +the other hand, sought to lead her son's mind in the direction of +the highest good, and with pious care counselled him, entreated +him, advised him to chastity, and, amidst much anguish and +tribulation, because of his wicked life, never ceased to pray for +him until her prayers were heard and answered. Thus her love at +last triumphed, and the patience and goodness of the mother were +rewarded, not only by the conversion of her gifted son, but also +of her husband. Later in life, and after her husband's death, +Monica, drawn by her affection, followed her son to Milan, to +watch over him; and there she died, when he was in his thirty- +third year. But it was in the earlier period of his life that her +example and instruction made the deepest impression upon his mind, +and determined his future character. + +There are many similar instances of early impressions made upon a +child's mind, springing up into good acts late in life, after an +intervening period of selfishness and vice. Parents may do all +that they can to develope an upright and virtuous character in +their children, and apparently in vain. It seems like bread cast +upon the waters and lost. And yet sometimes it happens that long +after the parents have gone to their Rest--it may be twenty years +or more--the good precept, the good example set before their sons +and daughters in childhood, at length springs up and bears fruit. + +One of the most remarkable of such instances was that of the +Reverend John Newton of Olney, the friend of Cowper the poet. It +was long subsequent to the death of both his parents, and after +leading a vicious life as a youth and as a seaman, that he became +suddenly awakened to a sense of his depravity; and then it was +that the lessons which his mother had given him when a child +sprang up vividly in his memory. Her voice came to him as it were +from the dead, and led him gently back to virtue and goodness. + +Another instance is that of John Randolph, the American statesman, +who once said: "I should have been an atheist if it had not been +for one recollection--and that was the memory of the time when my +departed mother used to take my little hand in hers, and cause me +on my knees to say, 'Our Father who art in heaven!'" + +But such instance must, on the whole, be regarded as exceptional. +As the character is biassed in early life, so it generally +remains, gradually assuming its permanent form as manhood is +reached. "Live as long as you may," said Southey, "the first +twenty years are the longest half of your life," and they are by +far the most pregnant in consequences. When the worn-out +slanderer and voluptuary, Dr. Wolcot, lay on his deathbed, one of +his friends asked if he could do anything to gratify him. "Yes," +said the dying man, eagerly, "give me back my youth." Give him but +that, and he would repent--he would reform. But it was all +too late! His life had become bound and enthralled by the +chains of habit.' (3) + +Gretry, the musical composer, thought so highly of the importance +of woman as an educator of character, that he described a good +mother as "Nature's CHEF-D'OEUVRE." And he was right: for good +mothers, far more than fathers, tend to the perpetual renovation +of mankind, creating, as they do, the moral atmosphere of the +home, which is the nutriment of man's moral being, as the physical +atmosphere is of his corporeal frame. By good temper, suavity, +and kindness, directed by intelligence, woman surrounds the +indwellers with a pervading atmosphere of cheerfulness, +contentment, and peace, suitable for the growth of the purest as +of the manliest natures. + +The poorest dwelling, presided over by a virtuous, thrifty, +cheerful, and cleanly woman, may thus be the abode of comfort, +virtue, and happiness; it may be the scene of every ennobling +relation in family life; it may be endeared to a man by many +delightful associations; furnishing a sanctuary for the heart, a +refuge from the storms of life, a sweet resting-place after +labour, a consolation in misfortune, a pride in prosperity, and a +joy at all times. + +The good home is thus the best of schools, not only in youth but +in age. There young and old best learn cheerfulness, patience, +self-control, and the spirit of service and of duty. Izaak +Walton, speaking of George Herbert's mother, says she governed her +family with judicious care, not rigidly nor sourly, "but with such +a sweetness and compliance with the recreations and pleasures of +youth, as did incline them to spend much of their time in her +company, which was to her great content." + +The home is the true school of courtesy, of which woman is always +the best practical instructor. "Without woman," says the +Provencal proverb, "men were but ill-licked cubs." Philanthropy +radiates from the home as from a centre. "To love the little +platoon we belong to in society," said Burke, "is the germ of all +public affections." The wisest and the best have not been ashamed +to own it to be their greatest joy and happiness to sit "behind +the heads of children" in the inviolable circle of home. A life +of purity and duty there is not the least effectual preparative +for a life of public work and duty; and the man who loves his home +will not the less fondly love and serve his country. But while +homes, which are the nurseries of character, may be the best of +schools, they may also be the worst. Between childhood and +manhood how incalculable is the mischief which ignorance in the +home has the power to cause! Between the drawing of the first +breath and the last, how vast is the moral suffering and disease +occasioned by incompetent mothers and nurses! Commit a child to +the care of a worthless ignorant woman, and no culture in after- +life will remedy the evil you have done. Let the mother be idle, +vicious, and a slattern; let her home be pervaded by cavilling, +petulance, and discontent, and it will become a dwelling of misery +--a place to fly from, rather than to fly to; and the children +whose misfortune it is to be brought up there, will be morally +dwarfed and deformed--the cause of misery to themselves as well +as to others. + +Napoleon Buonaparte was accustomed to say that "the future good or +bad conduct of a child depended entirely on the mother." He +himself attributed his rise in life in a great measure to the +training of his will, his energy, and his self-control, by his +mother at home. "Nobody had any command over him," says one of +his biographers, "except his mother, who found means, by a mixture +of tenderness, severity, and justice, to make him love, respect, +and obey her: from her he learnt the virtue of obedience." + +A curious illustration of the dependence of the character of +children on that of the mother incidentally occurs in one of Mr. +Tufnell's school reports. The truth, he observes, is so well +established that it has even been made subservient to mercantile +calculation. "I was informed," he says, "in a large factory, +where many children were employed, that the managers before they +engaged a boy always inquired into the mother's character, and if +that was satisfactory they were tolerably certain that her +children would conduct themselves creditably. NO ATTENTION WAS +PAID TO THE CHARACTER OF THE FATHER." (4) + +It has also been observed that in cases where the father has +turned out badly--become a drunkard, and "gone to the dogs"-- +provided the mother is prudent and sensible, the family will be +kept together, and the children probably make their way honourably +in life; whereas in cases of the opposite sort, where the mother +turns out badly, no matter how well-conducted the father may be, +the instances of after-success in life on the part of the children +are comparatively rare. + +The greater part of the influence exercised by women on the +formation of character necessarily remains unknown. They +accomplish their best work in the quiet seclusion of the home and +the family, by sustained effort and patient perseverance in the +path of duty. Their greatest triumphs, because private and +domestic, are rarely recorded; and it is not often, even in the +biographies of distinguished men, that we hear of the share which +their mothers have had in the formation of their character, and in +giving them a bias towards goodness. Yet are they not on that +account without their reward. The influence they have exercised, +though unrecorded, lives after them, and goes on propagating +itself in consequences for ever. + +We do not often hear of great women, as we do of great men. It is +of good women that we mostly hear; and it is probable that by +determining the character of men and women for good, they are +doing even greater work than if they were to paint great pictures, +write great books, or compose great operas. "It is quite true," +said Joseph de Maistre, "that women have produced no CHEFS- +DOEUVRE. They have written no 'Iliad,' nor 'Jerusalem Delivered,' +nor 'Hamlet,' nor 'Phaedre,' nor 'Paradise Lost,' nor 'Tartuffe;' +they have designed no Church of St. Peter's, composed no +'Messiah,' carved no 'Apollo Belvidere,' painted no 'Last +Judgment;' they have invented neither algebra, nor telescopes, nor +steam-engines; but they have done something far greater and better +than all this, for it is at their knees that upright and virtuous +men and women have been trained--the most excellent productions +in the world." + +De Maistre, in his letters and writings, speaks of his own mother +with immense love and reverence. Her noble character made all +other women venerable in his eyes. He described her as his +"sublime mother"--"an angel to whom God had lent a body for a +brief season." To her he attributed the bent of his character, and +all his bias towards good; and when he had grown to mature years, +while acting as ambassador at the Court of St. Petersburg, he +referred to her noble example and precepts as the ruling +influence in his life. + +One of the most charming features in the character of Samuel +Johnson, notwithstanding his rough and shaggy exterior, was the +tenderness with which he invariably spoke of his mother (5)--a +woman of strong understanding, who firmly implanted in his mind, +as he himself acknowledges, his first impressions of religion. He +was accustomed, even in the time of his greatest difficulties, to +contribute largely, out of his slender means, to her comfort; and +one of his last acts of filial duty was to write 'Rasselas' +for the purpose of paying her little debts and defraying +her funeral charges. + +George Washington was only eleven years of age--the eldest of +five children--when his father died, leaving his mother a widow. +She was a woman of rare excellence--full of resources, a good +woman of business, an excellent manager, and possessed of much +strength of character. She had her children to educate and bring +up, a large household to govern, and extensive estates to manage, +all of which she accomplished with complete success. Her good +sense, assiduity, tenderness, industry, and vigilance, enabled her +to overcome every obstacle; and as the richest reward of her +solicitude and toil, she had the happiness to see all her children +come forward with a fair promise into life, filling the spheres +allotted to them in a manner equally honourable to themselves, and +to the parent who had been the only guide of their, principles, +conduct, and habits. (6) + +The biographer of Cromwell says little about the Protector's +father, but dwells upon the character of his mother, whom he +describes as a woman of rare vigour and decision of purpose: "A +woman," he says, "possessed of the glorious faculty of self-help +when other assistance failed her; ready for the demands of fortune +in its extremest adverse turn; of spirit and energy equal to her +mildness and patience; who, with the labour of her own hands, gave +dowries to five daughters sufficient to marry them into families +as honourable but more wealthy than their own; whose single pride +was honesty, and whose passion was love; who preserved in the +gorgeous palace at Whitehall the simple tastes that distinguished +her in the old brewery at Huntingdon; and whose only care, amidst +all her splendour, was for the safety of her son in his dangerous +eminence." (7) + +We have spoken of the mother of Napoleon Buonaparte as a woman of +great force of character. Not less so was the mother of the Duke +of Wellington, whom her son strikingly resembled in features, +person, and character; while his father was principally +distinguished as a musical composer and performer. (8) But, +strange to say, Wellington's mother mistook him for a dunce; and, +for some reason or other, he was not such a favourite as her other +children, until his great deeds in after-life constrained her to +be proud of him. + +The Napiers were blessed in both parents, but especially in their +mother, Lady Sarah Lennox, who early sought to inspire her sons' +minds with elevating thoughts, admiration of noble deeds, and a +chivalrous spirit, which became embodied in their lives, and +continued to sustain them, until death, in the path of duty +and of honour. + +Among statesmen, lawyers, and divines, we find marked mention made +of the mothers of Lord Chancellors Bacon, Erskine, and Brougham-- +all women of great ability, and, in the case of the first, of +great learning; as well as of the mothers of Canning, Curran, and +President Adams--of Herbert, Paley, and Wesley. Lord Brougham +speaks in terms almost approaching reverence of his grandmother, +the sister of Professor Robertson, as having been mainly +instrumental in instilling into his mind a strong desire for +information, and the first principles of that persevering energy +in the pursuit of every kind of knowledge which formed his +prominent characteristic throughout life. + +Canning's mother was an Irishwoman of great natural ability, for +whom her gifted son entertained the greatest love and respect to +the close of his career. She was a woman of no ordinary +intellectual power. "Indeed," says Canning's biographer, "were we +not otherwise assured of the fact from direct sources, it would be +impossible to contemplate his profound and touching devotion to +her, without being led to conclude that the object of such +unchanging attachment must have been possessed of rare and +commanding qualities. She was esteemed by the circle in which she +lived, as a woman of great mental energy. Her conversation was +animated and vigorous, and marked by a distinct originality of +manner and a choice of topics fresh and striking, and out of the +commonplace routine. To persons who were but slightly acquainted +with her, the energy of her manner had even something of the air +of eccentricity." (9) + +Curran speaks with great affection of his mother, as a woman of +strong original understanding, to whose wise counsel, consistent +piety, and lessons of honourable ambition, which she diligently +enforced on the minds of her children, he himself principally +attributed his success in life. "The only inheritance," he used +to say, "that I could boast of from my poor father, was the very +scanty one of an unattractive face and person; like his own; and +if the world has ever attributed to me something more valuable +than face or person, or than earthly wealth, it was that another +and a dearer parent gave her child a portion from the treasure +of her mind." (10) + +When ex-President Adams was present at the examination of a girls' +school at Boston, he was presented by the pupils with an address +which deeply affected him; and in acknowledging it, he took the +opportunity of referring to the lasting influence which womanly +training and association had exercised upon his own life and +character. "As a child," he said, "I enjoyed perhaps the greatest +of blessings that can be bestowed on man--that of a mother, who +was anxious and capable to form the characters of her children +rightly. From her I derived whatever instruction (religious +especially, and moral) has pervaded a long life--I will not say +perfectly, or as it ought to be; but I will say, because it is +only justice to the memory of her I revere, that, in the course of +that life, whatever imperfection there has been, or deviation from +what she taught me, the fault is mine, and not hers." + +The Wesleys were peculiarly linked to their parents by natural +piety, though the mother, rather than the father, influenced their +minds and developed their characters. The father was a man of +strong will, but occasionally harsh and tyrannical in his dealings +with his family; (11) while the mother, with much strength of +understanding and ardent love of truth, was gentle, persuasive, +affectionate, and simple. She was the teacher and cheerful +companion of her children, who gradually became moulded by her +example. It was through the bias given by her to her sons' minds +in religious matters that they acquired the tendency which, even +in early years, drew to them the name of Methodists. In a letter +to her son, Samuel Wesley, when a scholar at Westminster in 1709, +she said: "I would advise you as much as possible to throw your +business into a certain METHOD, by which means you will learn to +improve every precious moment, and find an unspeakable facility in +the performance of your respective duties." This "method" she went +on to describe, exhorting her son "in all things to act upon +principle;" and the society which the brothers John and Charles +afterwards founded at Oxford is supposed to have been in a great +measure the result of her exhortations. + +In the case of poets, literary men, and artists, the influence of +the mother's feeling and taste has doubtless had great effect in +directing the genius of their sons; and we find this especially +illustrated in the lives of Gray, Thomson, Scott, Southey, Bulwer, +Schiller, and Goethe. Gray inherited, almost complete, his kind +and loving nature from his mother, while his father was harsh and +unamiable. Gray was, in fact, a feminine man--shy, reserved, and +wanting in energy,--but thoroughly irreproachable in life and +character. The poet's mother maintained the family, after her +unworthy husband had deserted her; and, at her death, Gray placed +on her grave, in Stoke Pogis, an epitaph describing her as "the +careful tender mother of many children, one of whom alone had the +misfortune to survive her." The poet himself was, at his own +desire, interred beside her worshipped grave. + +Goethe, like Schiller, owed the bias of his mind and character to +his mother, who was a woman of extraordinary gifts. She was full +of joyous flowing mother-wit, and possessed in a high degree the +art of stimulating young and active minds, instructing them in the +science of life out of the treasures of her abundant experience. (12) +After a lengthened interview with her, an enthusiastic traveller +said, "Now do I understand how Goethe has become the man he is." +Goethe himself affectionately cherished her memory. "She was +worthy of life!" he once said of her; and when he visited +Frankfort, he sought out every individual who had been kind to his +mother, and thanked them all. + +It was Ary Scheffer's mother--whose beautiful features the +painter so loved to reproduce in his pictures of Beatrice, St. +Monica, and others of his works--that encouraged his study of +art, and by great self-denial provided him with the means of +pursuing it. While living at Dordrecht, in Holland, she first +sent him to Lille to study, and afterwards to Paris; and her +letters to him, while absent, were always full of sound motherly +advice, and affectionate womanly sympathy. "If you could but see +me," she wrote on one occasion, "kissing your picture, then, after +a while, taking it up again, and, with a tear in my eye, calling +you 'my beloved son,' you would comprehend what it costs me to use +sometimes the stern language of authority, and to occasion to you +moments of pain. * * * Work diligently--be, above all, modest +and humble; and when you find yourself excelling others, then +compare what you have done with Nature itself, or with the 'ideal' +of your own mind, and you will be secured, by the contrast which +will be apparent, against the effects of pride and presumption." + +Long years after, when Ary Scheffer was himself a grandfather, he +remembered with affection the advice of his mother, and repeated +it to his children. And thus the vital power of good example +lives on from generation to generation, keeping the world ever +fresh and young. Writing to his daughter, Madame Marjolin, in +1846, his departed mother's advice recurred to him, and he said: +"The word MUST--fix it well in your memory, dear child; your +grandmother seldom had it out of hers. The truth is, that through +our lives nothing brings any good fruit except what is earned by +either the work of the hands, or by the exertion of one's self- +denial. Sacrifices must, in short, be ever going on if we would +obtain any comfort or happiness. Now that I am no longer young, I +declare that few passages in my life afford me so much +satisfaction as those in which I made sacrifices, or denied myself +enjoyments. 'Das Entsagen' (the forbidden) is the motto of the +wise man. Self-denial is the quality of which Jesus Christ +set us the example." (13) + +The French historian Michelet makes the following touching +reference to his mother in the Preface to one of his most popular +books, the subject of much embittered controversy at the time at +which it appeared:- "Whilst writing all this, I have had in my +mind a woman, whose strong and serious mind would not have failed +to support me in these contentions. I lost her thirty years ago +(I was a child then)--nevertheless, ever living in my memory, she +follows me from age to age. + +"She suffered with me in my poverty, and was not allowed to share +my better fortune. When young, I made her sad, and now I cannot +console her. I know not even where her bones are: I was too poor +then to buy earth to bury her!" + +"And yet I owe her much. I feel deeply that I am the son of +woman. Every instant, in my ideas and words (not to mention +my features and gestures), I find again my mother in myself. +It is my mother's blood which gives me the sympathy I feel +for bygone ages, and the tender remembrance of all those +who are now no more." + +"What return then could I, who am myself advancing towards +old age, make her for the many things I owe her? One, for +which she would have thanked me--this protest in favour +of women and mothers." (14) + +But while a mother may greatly influence the poetic or artistic +mind of her son for good, she may also influence it for evil. +Thus the characteristics of Lord Byron--the waywardness of his +impulses, his defiance of restraint, the bitterness of his hate, +and the precipitancy of his resentments--were traceable in no +small degree to the adverse influences exercised upon his mind +from his birth by his capricious, violent, and headstrong mother. +She even taunted her son with his personal deformity; and it was +no unfrequent occurrence, in the violent quarrels which occurred +between them, for her to take up the poker or tongs, and hurl them +after him as he fled from her presence. (15) It was this unnatural +treatment that gave a morbid turn to Byron's after-life; and, +careworn, unhappy, great, and yet weak as he was, he carried about +with him the mother's poison which he had sucked in his infancy. +Hence he exclaims, in his 'Childe Harold':- + + "Yet must I think less wildly:- I have thought + Too long and darkly, till my brain became, + In its own eddy boiling and o'erwrought, + A whirling gulf of phantasy and flame: + And thus, UNTAUGHT IN YOUTH MY HEART TO TAME, + MY SPRINGS OF LIFE WERE POISONED." + +In like manner, though in a different way, the character of Mrs. +Foote, the actor's mother, was curiously repeated in the life of +her joyous, jovial-hearted son. Though she had been heiress to a +large fortune, she soon spent it all, and was at length imprisoned +for debt. In this condition she wrote to Sam, who had been +allowing her a hundred a year out of the proceeds of his acting:- +"Dear Sam, I am in prison for debt; come and assist your loving +mother, E. Foote." To which her son characteristically replied-- +"Dear mother, so am I; which prevents his duty being paid to his +loving mother by her affectionate son, Sam Foote." + +A foolish mother may also spoil a gifted son, by imbuing his mind +with unsound sentiments. Thus Lamartine's mother is said to have +trained him in altogether erroneous ideas of life, in the school +of Rousseau and Bernardin de St.-Pierre, by which his +sentimentalism, sufficiently strong by nature, was exaggerated +instead of repressed: (16) and he became the victim of tears, +affectation, and improvidence, all his life long. It almost +savours of the ridiculous to find Lamartine, in his 'Confidences,' +representing himself as a "statue of Adolescence raised as a model +for young men." (17) As he was his mother's spoilt child, so he +was the spoilt child of his country to the end, which was bitter +and sad. Sainte-Beuve says of him: "He was the continual object +of the richest gifts, which he had not the power of managing, +scattering and wasting them--all, excepting, the gift of words, +which seemed inexhaustible, and on which he continued to play to +the end as on an enchanted flute." (18) + +We have spoken of the mother of Washington as an excellent woman +of business; and to possess such a quality as capacity for +business is not only compatible with true womanliness, but is in a +measure essential to the comfort and wellbeing of every properly- +governed family. Habits of business do not relate to trade +merely, but apply to all the practical affairs of life--to +everything that has to be arranged, to be organised, to be +provided for, to be done. And in all these respects the +management of a family, and of a household, is as much a matter of +business as the management of a shop or of a counting-house. It +requires method, accuracy, organization, industry, economy, +discipline, tact, knowledge, and capacity for adapting means to +ends. All this is of the essence of business; and hence business +habits are as necessary to be cultivated by women who would +succeed in the affairs of home--in other words, who would make +home happy--as by men in the affairs of trade, of commerce, or of +manufacture. + +The idea has, however, heretofore prevailed, that women have no +concern with such matters, and that business habits and +qualifications relate to men only. Take, for instance, the +knowledge of figures. Mr. Bright has said of boys, "Teach a boy +arithmetic thoroughly, and he is a made man." And why?--Because +it teaches him method, accuracy, value, proportions, relations. +But how many girls are taught arithmetic well?--Very few indeed. +And what is the consequence?--When the girl becomes a wife, if +she knows nothing of figures, and is innocent of addition and +multiplication, she can keep no record of income and expenditure, +and there will probably be a succession of mistakes committed +which may be prolific in domestic contention. The woman, not +being up to her business--that is, the management of her domestic +affairs in conformity with the simple principles of arithmetic-- +will, through sheer ignorance, be apt to commit extravagances, +though unintentional, which may be most injurious to her family +peace and comfort. + +Method, which is the soul of business, is also of essential +importance in the home. Work can only be got through by method. +Muddle flies before it, and hugger-mugger becomes a thing unknown. +Method demands punctuality, another eminently business quality. +The unpunctual woman, like the unpunctual man, occasions dislike, +because she consumes and wastes time, and provokes the reflection +that we are not of sufficient importance to make her more prompt. +To the business man, time is money; but to the business woman, +method is more--it is peace, comfort, and domestic prosperity. + +Prudence is another important business quality in women, as in +men. Prudence is practical wisdom, and comes of the cultivated +judgment. It has reference in all things to fitness, to +propriety; judging wisely of the right thing to be done, and +the right way of doing it. It calculates the means, order, +time, and method of doing. Prudence learns from experience, +quickened by knowledge. + +For these, amongst other reasons, habits of business are necessary +to be cultivated by all women, in order to their being efficient +helpers in the world's daily life and work. Furthermore, to +direct the power of the home aright, women, as the nurses, +trainers, and educators of children, need all the help and +strength that mental culture can give them. + +Mere instinctive love is not sufficient. Instinct, which +preserves the lower creatures, needs no training; but human +intelligence, which is in constant request in a family, needs to +be educated. The physical health of the rising generation is +entrusted to woman by Providence; and it is in the physical nature +that the moral and mental nature lies enshrined. It is only by +acting in accordance with the natural laws, which before she can +follow woman must needs understand, that the blessings of health +of body, and health of mind and morals, can be secured at home. +Without a knowledge of such laws, the mother's love too often +finds its recompence only in a child's coffin. (19) + +It is a mere truism to say that the intellect with which woman as +well as man is endowed, has been given for use and exercise, and +not "to fust in her unused." Such endowments are never conferred +without a purpose. The Creator may be lavish in His gifts, but he +is never wasteful. + +Woman was not meant to be either an unthinking drudge, or the +merely pretty ornament of man's leisure. She exists for herself, +as well as for others; and the serious and responsible duties she +is called upon to perform in life, require the cultivated head as +well as the sympathising heart. Her highest mission is not to be +fulfilled by the mastery of fleeting accomplishments, on which so +much useful time is now wasted; for, though accomplishments may +enhance the charms of youth and beauty, of themselves sufficiently +charming, they will be found of very little use in the affairs +of real life. + +The highest praise which the ancient Romans could express of a +noble matron was that she sat at home and span--"DOMUM MANSIT, +LANAM FECIT." In our own time, it has been said that chemistry +enough to keep the pot boiling, and geography enough to know the +different rooms in her house, was science enough for any woman; +whilst Byron, whose sympathies for woman were of a very imperfect +kind, professed that he would limit her library to a Bible and a +cookery-book. But this view of woman's character and culture is +as absurdly narrow and unintelligent, on the one hand, as the +opposite view, now so much in vogue, is extravagant and unnatural +on the other--that woman ought to be educated so as to be as much +as possible the equal of man; undistinguishable from him, except +in sex; equal to him in rights and votes; and his competitor in +all that makes life a fierce and selfish struggle for place and +power and money. + +Speaking generally, the training and discipline that are most +suitable for the one sex in early life, are also the most suitable +for the other; and the education and culture that fill the mind of +the man will prove equally wholesome for the woman. Indeed, all +the arguments which have yet been advanced in favour of the higher +education of men, plead equally strongly in favour of the higher +education of women. In all the departments of home, intelligence +will add to woman's usefulness and efficiency. It will give her +thought and forethought, enable her to anticipate and provide for +the contingencies of life, suggest improved methods of management, +and give her strength in every way. In disciplined mental power +she will find a stronger and safer protection against deception +and imposture than in mere innocent and unsuspecting ignorance; in +moral and religious culture she will secure sources of influence +more powerful and enduring than in physical attractions; and in +due self-reliance and self-dependence she will discover the truest +sources of domestic comfort and happiness. + +But while the mind and character of women ought to be cultivated +with a view to their own wellbeing, they ought not the less to be +educated liberally with a view to the happiness of others. Men +themselves cannot be sound in mind or morals if women be the +reverse; and if, as we hold to be the case, the moral condition of +a people mainly depends upon the education of the home, then the +education of women is to be regarded as a matter of national +importance. Not only does the moral character but the mental +strength of man find their best safeguard and support in the moral +purity and mental cultivation of woman; but the more completely +the powers of both are developed, the more harmonious and well- +ordered will society be--the more safe and certain its elevation +and advancement. + +When about fifty years since, the first Napoleon said that the +great want of France was mothers, he meant, in other words, that +the French people needed the education of homes, provided over by +good, virtuous, intelligent women. Indeed, the first French +Revolution presented one of the most striking illustrations of the +social mischiefs resulting from a neglect of the purifying +influence of women. When that great national outbreak occurred, +society was impenetrated with vice and profligacy. Morals, +religion, virtue, were swamped by sensualism. The character of +woman had become depraved. Conjugal fidelity was disregarded; +maternity was held in reproach; family and home were alike +corrupted. Domestic purity no longer bound society together. +France was motherless; the children broke loose; and the +Revolution burst forth, "amidst the yells and the fierce violence +of women." (20) + +But the terrible lesson was disregarded, and again and again +France has grievously suffered from the want of that discipline, +obedience, self-control, and self-respect which can only be truly +learnt at home. It is said that the Third Napoleon attributed the +recent powerlessness of France, which left her helpless and +bleeding at the feet of her conquerors, to the frivolity and lack +of principle of the people, as well as to their love of pleasure-- +which, however, it must be confessed, he himself did not a little +to foster. It would thus seem that the discipline which France +still needs to learn, if she would be good and great, is that +indicated by the First Napoleon--home education by good mothers. + +The influence of woman is the same everywhere. Her condition +influences the morals, manners, and character of the people in all +countries. Where she is debased, society is debased; where she is +morally pure and enlightened, society will be proportionately +elevated. + +Hence, to instruct woman is to instruct man; to elevate her +character is to raise his own; to enlarge her mental freedom is to +extend and secure that of the whole community. For Nations are +but the outcomes of Homes, and Peoples of Mothers. + +But while it is certain that the character of a nation will be +elevated by the enlightenment and refinement of woman, it is much +more than doubtful whether any advantage is to be derived from her +entering into competition with man in the rough work of business +and polities. Women can no more do men's special work in the +world than men can do women's. And wherever woman has been +withdrawn from her home and family to enter upon other work, the +result has been socially disastrous. Indeed, the efforts of some +of the best philanthropists have of late years been devoted to +withdrawing women from toiling alongside of men in coalpits, +factories, nailshops, and brickyards. + +It is still not uncommon in the North for the husbands to be idle +at home, while the mothers and daughters are working in the +factory; the result being, in many cases, an entire subversion of +family order, of domestic discipline, and of home rule. (21) And +for many years past, in Paris, that state of things has been +reached which some women desire to effect amongst ourselves. The +women there mainly attend to business--serving the BOUTIQUE, or +presiding at the COMPTOIR--while the men lounge about the +Boulevards. But the result has only been homelessness, +degeneracy, and family and social decay. + +Nor is there any reason to believe that the elevation and +improvement of women are to be secured by investing them with +political power. There are, however, in these days, many +believers in the potentiality of "votes," (22) who anticipate some +indefinite good from the "enfranchisement" of women. It is not +necessary here to enter upon the discussion of this question. But +it may be sufficient to state that the power which women do not +possess politically is far more than compensated by that which +they exercise in private life--by their training in the home +those who, whether as men or as women, do all the manly as well as +womanly work of the world. The Radical Bentham has said that man, +even if he would, cannot keep power from woman; for that she +already governs the world "with the whole power of a despot," (23) +though the power that she mainly governs by is love. And to form +the character of the whole human race, is certainly a power far +greater than that which women could ever hope to exercise as +voters for members of Parliament, or even as lawmakers. + +There is, however, one special department of woman's work +demanding the earnest attention of all true female reformers, +though it is one which has hitherto been unaccountably neglected. +We mean the better economizing and preparation of human food, the +waste of which at present, for want of the most ordinary culinary +knowledge, is little short of scandalous. If that man is to be +regarded as a benefactor of his species who makes two stalks of +corn to grow where only one grew before, not less is she to be +regarded as a public benefactor who economizes and turns to the +best practical account the food-products of human skill and +labour. The improved use of even our existing supply would be +equivalent to an immediate extension of the cultivable acreage of +our country--not to speak of the increase in health, economy, and +domestic comfort. Were our female reformers only to turn their +energies in this direction with effect, they would earn the +gratitude of all households, and be esteemed as among the greatest +of practical philanthropists. + + + +NOTES + +(1) Civic virtues, unless they have their origin and consecration in +private and domestic virtues, are but the virtues of the theatre. +He who has not a loving heart for his child, cannot pretend to +have any true love for humanity.--Jules Simon's LE DEVOIR. + +(2) 'Levana; or, The Doctrine of Education.' + +(3) Speaking of the force of habit, St. Augustine says in his +'Confessions' "My will the enemy held, and thence had made a chain +for me, and bound me. For of a froward will was a lust made; and +a lust served became custom; and custom not resisted became +necessity. By which links, as it were, joined together (whence I +called it a chain) a hard bondage held me enthralled." + +(4) Mr. Tufnell, in 'Reports of Inspectors of Parochial School Unions +in England and Wales,' 1850. + +(5) See the letters (January 13th, 16th, 18th, 20th, and 23rd, 1759), +written by Johnson to his mother when she was ninety, and he +himself was in his fiftieth year.--Crokers BOSWELL, 8vo. Ed. pp. +113, 114. + +(6) Jared Sparks' 'Life of Washington.' + +(7) Forster's 'Eminent British Statesmen' (Cabinet Cyclop.) vi. 8. + +(8) The Earl of Mornington, composer of 'Here in cool grot,' &c. + +(9) Robert Bell's 'Life of Canning,' p. 37. + +(10) 'Life of Curran,' by his son, p. 4. + +(11) The father of the Wesleys had even determined at one time to +abandon his wife because her conscience forbade her to assent to +his prayers for the then reigning monarch, and he was only saved +from the consequences of his rash resolve by the accidental death +of William III. He displayed the same overbearing disposition in +dealing with his children; forcing his daughter Mehetabel to +marry, against her will, a man whom she did not love, and who +proved entirely unworthy of her. + +(12) Goethe himself says-- +"Vom Vater hab' ich die Statur, +Des Lebens ernstes Fuhren; +Von Mutterchen die Frohnatur +Und Lust zu fabuliren." + +(13) Mrs. Grote's 'Life of Ary Scheffer,' p. 154. + +(14) Michelet, 'On Priests, Women, and Families.' + +(15) Mrs. Byron is said to have died in a fit of passion, brought on by +reading her upholsterer's bills. + +(16) Sainte-Beuve, 'Causeries du Lundi,' i. 23. + +(17) Ibid. i. 22. + +(18) Ibid. 1. 23. + +(19) That about one-third of all the children born in this country die +under five years of age, can only he attributable to ignorance of +the natural laws, ignorance of the human constitution, and +ignorance of the uses of pure air, pure water, and of the art of +preparing and administering wholesome food. There is no such +mortality amongst the lower animals. + +(20) Beaumarchais' 'Figaro,' which was received with such enthusiasm +in France shortly before the outbreak of the Revolution, may be +regarded as a typical play; it represented the average morality of +the upper as well as the lower classes with respect to the +relations between the sexes. "Label men how you please," says +Herbert Spencer, "with titles of 'upper' and 'middle' and 'lower,' +you cannot prevent them from being units of the same society, +acted upon by the same spirit of the age, moulded after the same +type of character. The mechanical law, that action and reaction +are equal, has its moral analogue. The deed of one man to another +tends ultimately to produce a like effect upon both, be the deed +good or bad. Do but put them in relationship, and no division +into castes, no differences of wealth, can prevent men from +assimilating.... The same influences which rapidly adapt the +individual to his society, ensure, though by a slower process, the +general uniformity of a national character.... And so long as the +assimilating influences productive of it continue at work, it is +folly to suppose any one grade of a community can be morally +different from the rest. In whichever rank you see corruption, be +assured it equally pervades all ranks--be assured it is the +symptom of a bad social diathesis. Whilst the virus of depravity +exists in one part of the body-politic, no other part can remain +healthy."--SOCIAL STATICS, chap. xx. 7. + +(21) Some twenty-eight years since, the author wrote and published the +following passage, not without practical knowledge of the subject; +and notwithstanding the great amelioration in the lot of factory- +workers, effected mainly through the noble efforts of Lord +Shaftesbury, the description is still to a large extent true:-- +"The factory system, however much it may have added to the wealth +of the country, has had a most deleterious effect on the domestic +condition of the people. It has invaded the sanctuary of home, +and broken up family and social ties. It has taken the wife from +the husband, and the children from their parents. Especially has +its tendency been to lower the character of woman. The +performance of domestic duties is her proper office,--the +management of her household, the rearing of her family, the +economizing of the family means, the supplying of the family +wants. But the factory takes her from all these duties. Homes +become no longer homes. Children grow up uneducated and +neglected. The finer affections become blunted. Woman is no more +the gentle wife, companion, and friend of man, but his fellow- +labourer and fellow-drudge. She is exposed to influences which +too often efface that modesty of thought and conduct which is one +of the best safeguards of virtue. Without judgment or sound +principles to guide them, factory-girls early acquire the feeling +of independence. Ready to throw off the constraint imposed on +them by their parents, they leave their homes, and speedily become +initiated in the vices of their associates. The atmosphere, +physical as well as moral, in which they live, stimulates their +animal appetites; the influence of bad example becomes contagious +among them and mischief is propagated far and wide."--THE UNION, +January, 1843. + +(22)A French satirist, pointing to the repeated PLEBISCITES and +perpetual voting of late years, and to the growing want of faith +in anything but votes, said, in 1870, that we seemed to be rapidly +approaching the period when the only prayer of man and woman would +be, "Give us this day our daily vote!" + +(23) "Of primeval and necessary and absolute superiority, the relation +of the mother to the child is far more complete, though less +seldom quoted as an example, than that of father and son.... By +Sir Robert Filmer, the supposed necessary as well as absolute +power of the father over his children, was taken as the foundation +and origin, and thence justifying cause, of the power of the +monarch in every political state. With more propriety he might +have stated the absolute dominion of a woman as the only +legitimate form of government."--DEONTOLOGY, ii. 181. + + + +CHAPTER III.--COMPANIONSHIP AND EXAMPLES + + + + "Keep good company, and you shall be of the number." + -- GEORGE HERBERT. + + "For mine own part, + I Shall be glad to learn of noble men."--SHAKSPEARE + + "Examples preach to th' eye--Care then, mine says, + Not how you end but how you spend your days." + HENRY MARTEN--'LAST THOUGHTS.' + +"Dis moi qui t'admire, et je dirai qui tu es."--SAINTE-BEUVE + +He that means to be a good limner will be sure to draw after the +most excellent copies and guide every stroke of his pencil by the +better pattern that lays before him; so he that desires that the +table of his life may be fair, will be careful to propose the best +examples, and will never be content till he equals or excels +them."--OWEN FELTHAM + + +The natural education of the Home is prolonged far into life-- +indeed, it never entirely ceases. But the time arrives, in the +progress of years, when the Home ceases to exercise an exclusive +influence on the formation of character; and it is succeeded by +the more artificial education of the school and the companionship +of friends and comrades, which continue to mould the character by +the powerful influence of example. + +Men, young and old--but the young more than the old--cannot help +imitating those with whom they associate. It was a saying of +George Herbert's mother, intended for the guidance of her sons, +"that as our bodies take a nourishment suitable to the meat on +which we feed, so do our souls as insensibly take in virtue or +vice by the example or conversation of good or bad company." + +Indeed, it is impossible that association with those about us +should not produce a powerful influence in the formation of +character. For men are by nature imitators, and all persons are +more or less impressed by the speech, the manners, the gait, the +gestures, and the very habits of thinking of their companions. +"Is example nothing?" said Burke. "It is everything. Example is +the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other." Burke's +grand motto, which he wrote for the tablet of the Marquis of +Rockingham, is worth repeating: it was, "Remember--resemble-- +persevere." + +Imitation is for the most part so unconscious that its effects are +almost unheeded, but its influence is not the less permanent on +that account. It is only when an impressive nature is placed in +contact with an impressionable one, that the alteration in the +character becomes recognisable. Yet even the weakest natures +exercise some influence upon those about them. The approximation +of feeling, thought, and habit is constant, and the action of +example unceasing. + +Emerson has observed that even old couples, or persons who have +been housemates for a course of years, grow gradually like each +other; so that, if they were to live long enough, we should +scarcely be able to know them apart. But if this be true of the +old, how much more true is it of the young, whose plastic natures +are so much more soft and impressionable, and ready to take the +stamp of the life and conversation of those about them! + +"There has been," observed Sir Charles Bell in one of his letters, +"a good deal said about education, but they appear to me to put +out of sight EXAMPLE, which is all-in-all. My best education was +the example set me by my brothers. There was, in all the members +of the family, a reliance on self, a true independence, and by +imitation I obtained it." (1) + +It is in the nature of things that the circumstances which +contribute to form the character, should exercise their principal +influence during the period of growth. As years advance, example +and imitation become custom, and gradually consolidate into habit, +which is of so much potency that, almost before we know it, we +have in a measure yielded up to it our personal freedom. + +It is related of Plato, that on one occasion he reproved a boy for +playing at some foolish game. "Thou reprovest me," said the boy, +"for a very little thing." "But custom," replied Plato, "is not a +little thing." Bad custom, consolidated into habit, is such a +tyrant that men sometimes cling to vices even while they curse +them. They have become the slaves of habits whose power they +are impotent to resist. Hence Locke has said that to create +and maintain that vigour of mind which is able to contest the +empire of habit, may be regarded as one of the chief ends +of moral discipline. + +Though much of the education of character by example is +spontaneous and unconscious, the young need not necessarily be the +passive followers or imitators of those about them. Their own +conduct, far more than the conduct of their companions, tends to +fix the purpose and form the principles of their life. Each +possesses in himself a power of will and of free activity, which, +if courageously exercised, will enable him to make his own +individual selection of friends and associates. It is only +through weakness of purpose that young people, as well as old, +become the slaves of their inclinations, or give themselves up to +a servile imitation of others. + +It is a common saying that men are known by the company they keep. +The sober do not naturally associate with the drunken, the refined +with the coarse, the decent with the dissolute. To associate with +depraved persons argues a low taste and vicious tendencies, and to +frequent their society leads to inevitable degradation of +character. "The conversation of such persons," says Seneca, "is +very injurious; for even if it does no immediate harm, it leaves +its seeds in the mind, and follows us when we have gone from the +speakers--a plague sure to spring up in future resurrection." + +If young men are wisely influenced and directed, and +conscientiously exert their own free energies, they will seek the +society of those better than themselves, and strive to imitate +their example. In companionship with the good, growing natures +will always find their best nourishment; while companionship with +the bad will only be fruitful in mischief. There are persons whom +to know is to love, honour, and admire; and others whom to know is +to shun and despise,--"DONT LE SAVOIR N'EST QUE BETERIE," as says +Rabelais when speaking of the education of Gargantua. Live with +persons of elevated characters, and you will feel lifted and +lighted up in them: "Live with wolves," says the Spanish proverb, +"and you will learn to howl." + +Intercourse with even commonplace, selfish persons, may prove most +injurious, by inducing a dry, dull reserved, and selfish condition +of mind, more or less inimical to true manliness and breadth of +character. The mind soon learns to run in small grooves, the +heart grows narrow and contracted, and the moral nature becomes +weak, irresolute, and accommodating, which is fatal to all +generous ambition or real excellence. + +On the other hand, association with persons wiser, better, and +more experienced than ourselves, is always more or less inspiring +and invigorating. They enhance our own knowledge of life. We +correct our estimates by theirs, and become partners in their +wisdom. We enlarge our field of observation through their eyes, +profit by their experience, and learn not only from what they have +enjoyed, but--which is still more instructive--from what they +have suffered. If they are stronger than ourselves, we become +participators in their strength. Hence companionship with the +wise and energetic never fails to have a most valuable influence +on the formation of character--increasing our resources, +strengthening our resolves, elevating our aims, and enabling us to +exercise greater dexterity and ability in our own affairs, as well +as more effective helpfulness of others. + +"I have often deeply regretted in myself," says Mrs. +Schimmelpenninck, "the great loss I have experienced from the +solitude of my early habits. We need no worse companion than our +unregenerate selves, and, by living alone, a person not only +becomes wholly ignorant of the means of helping his fellow- +creatures, but is without the perception of those wants which most +need help. Association with others, when not on so large a scale +as to make hours of retirement impossible, may be considered as +furnishing to an individual a rich multiplied experience; and +sympathy so drawn forth, though, unlike charity, it begins abroad, +never fails to bring back rich treasures home. Association with +others is useful also in strengthening the character, and in +enabling us, while we never lose sight of our main object, to +thread our way wisely and well." (2) + +An entirely new direction may be given to the life of a young man +by a happy suggestion, a timely hint, or the kindly advice of an +honest friend. Thus the life of Henry Martyn the Indian +missionary, seems to have been singularly influenced by a +friendship which he formed, when a boy, at Truro Grammar School. +Martyn himself was of feeble frame, and of a delicate nervous +temperament. Wanting in animal spirits, he took but little +pleasure in school sports; and being of a somewhat petulant +temper, the bigger boys took pleasure in provoking him, and some +of them in bullying him. One of the bigger boys, however, +conceiving a friendship for Martyn, took him under his protection, +stood between him and his persecutors, and not only fought his +battles for him, but helped him with his lessons. Though Martyn +was rather a backward pupil, his father was desirous that he +should have the advantage of a college education, and at the age +of about fifteen he sent him to Oxford to try for a Corpus +scholarship, in which he failed. He remained for two years more +at the Truro Grammar School, and then went to Cambridge, where he +was entered at St. John's College. Who should he find already +settled there as a student but his old champion of the Truro +Grammar School? Their friendship was renewed; and the elder +student from that time forward acted as the Mentor, of the younger +one. Martyn was fitful in his studies, excitable and petulant, +and occasionally subject to fits of almost uncontrollable rage. +His big friend, on the other hand, was a steady, patient, +hardworking fellow; and he never ceased to watch over, to guide, +and to advise for good his irritable fellow-student. He kept +Martyn out of the way of evil company, advised him to work hard, +"not for the praise of men, but for the glory of God;" and so +successfully assisted him in his studies, that at the following +Christmas examination he was the first of his year. Yet Martyn's +kind friend and Mentor never achieved any distinction himself; he +passed away into obscurity, leading, most probably, a useful +though an unknown career; his greatest wish in life having been to +shape the character of his friend, to inspire his soul with the +love of truth, and to prepare him for the noble work, on which he +shortly after entered, of an Indian missionary. + +A somewhat similar incident is said to have occurred in the +college career of Dr. Paley. When a student at Christ's College +Cambridge, he was distinguished for his shrewdness as well as his +clumsiness, and he was at the same time the favourite and the butt +of his companions. Though his natural abilities were great, he +was thoughtless, idle, and a spendthrift; and at the commencement +of his third year be had made comparatively little progress. +After one of his usual night-dissipations, a friend stood by his +bedside on the following morning. "Paley," said he, "I have not +been able to sleep for thinking about you. I have been thinking +what a fool you are! I have the means of dissipation, and can +afford to be idle: YOU are poor, and cannot afford it. I could do +nothing, probably, even were I to try: YOU are capable of doing +anything. I have lain awake all night thinking about your folly, +and I have now come solemnly to warn you. Indeed, if you persist +in your indolence, and go on in this way, I must renounce your +society altogether! + +It is said that Paley was so powerfully affected by this +admonition, that from that moment he became an altered man. He +formed an entirely new plan of life, and diligently persevered in +it. He became one of the most industrious of students. One by +one he distanced his competitors, and at the end of the year be +came out Senior Wrangler. What he afterwards accomplished as an +author and a divine is sufficiently well known. + +No one recognised more fully the influence of personal example on +the young than did Dr. Arnold. It was the great lever with which +he worked in striving to elevate the character of his school. He +made it his principal object, first to put a right spirit into the +leading boys, by attracting their good and noble feelings; and +then to make them instrumental in propagating the same spirit +among the rest, by the influence of imitation, example, and +admiration. He endeavoured to make all feel that they were +fellow-workers with himself, and sharers with him in the moral +responsibility for the good government of the place. One of the +first effects of this highminded system of management was, that it +inspired the boys with strength and self-respect. They felt that +they were trusted. There were, of course, MAUVAIS SUJETS at +Rugby, as there are at all schools; and these it was the master's +duty to watch, to prevent their bad example contaminating others. +On one occasion he said to an assistant-master: "Do you see those +two boys walking together? I never saw them together before. You +should make an especial point of observing the company they keep: +nothing so tells the changes in a boy's character." + +Dr. Arnold's own example was an inspiration, as is that of every +great teacher. In his presence, young men learned to respect +themselves; and out of the root of self-respect there grew up the +manly virtues. "His very presence," says his biographer, "seemed +to create a new spring of health and vigour within them, and to +give to life an interest and elevation which remained with them +long after they had left him; and dwelt so habitually in their +thoughts as a living image, that, when death had taken him away, +the bond appeared to be still unbroken, and the sense of +separation almost lost in the still deeper sense of a life and a +Union indestructible." (3) And thus it was that Dr. Arnold +trained a host of manly and noble characters, who spread the +influence of his example in all parts of the world. + +So also was it said of Dugald Stewart, that he breathed the love +of virtue into whole generations of pupils. "To me," says the +late Lord Cockburn, "his lectures were like the opening of the +heavens. I felt that I had a soul. His noble views, unfolded in +glorious sentences, elevated me into a higher world... They +changed my whole nature." (4) + +Character tells in all conditions of life. The man of good +character in a workshop will give the tone to his fellows, and +elevate their entire aspirations. Thus Franklin, while a workman +in London, is said to have reformed the manners of an entire +workshop. So the man of bad character and debased energy will +unconsciously lower and degrade his fellows. Captain John Brown-- +the "marching-on Brown"--once said to Emerson, that "for a +settler in a new country, one good believing man is worth a +hundred, nay, worth a thousand men without character." His +example is so contagious, that all other men are directly and +beneficially influenced by him, and he insensibly elevates and +lifts them up to his own standard of energetic activity. + +Communication with the good is invariably productive of good. The +good character is diffusive in his influence. "I was common clay +till roses were planted in me," says some aromatic earth in the +Eastern fable. Like begets like, and good makes good. "It is +astonishing," says Canon Moseley, "how much good goodness makes. +Nothing that is good is alone, nor anything bad; it makes others +good or others bad--and that other, and so on: like a stone +thrown into a pond, which makes circles that make other wider +ones, and then others, till the last reaches the shore.... Almost +all the good that is in the world has, I suppose, thus come down +to us traditionally from remote times, and often unknown centres +of good." (5) So Mr. Ruskin says, "That which is born of evil +begets evil; and that which is born of valour and honour, teaches +valour and honour." + +Hence it is that the life of every man is a daily inculcation of +good or bad example to others. The life of a good man is at the +same time the most eloquent lesson of virtue and the most severe +reproof of vice. Dr. Hooker described the life of a pious +clergyman of his acquaintance as "visible rhetoric," convincing +even the most godless of the beauty of goodness. And so the good +George Herbert said, on entering upon the duties of his parish: +"Above all, I will be sure to live well, because the virtuous life +of a clergyman is the most powerful eloquence, to persuade all who +see it to reverence and love, and--at least to desire to live +like him. And this I will do," he added, "because I know we live +in an age that hath more need of good examples than precepts." It +was a fine saying of the same good priest, when reproached with +doing an act of kindness to a poor man, considered beneath the +dignity of his office,--that the thought of such actions "would +prove music to him at midnight." (6) Izaak Walton speaks of a +letter written by George Herbert to Bishop Andrewes, about a holy +life, which the latter "put into his bosom," and after showing it +to his scholars, "did always return it to the place where he first +lodged it, and continued it so, near his heart, till the last day +of his life." + +Great is the power of goodness to charm and to command. The man +inspired by it is the true king of men, drawing all hearts after +him. When General Nicholson lay wounded on his deathbed before +Delhi, he dictated this last message to his equally noble and +gallant friend, Sir Herbert Edwardes:- "Tell him," said he, "I +should have been a better man if I had continued to live with him, +and our heavy public duties had not prevented my seeing more of +him privately. I was always the better for a residence with him +and his wife, however short. Give my love to them both!" + +There are men in whose presence we feel as if we breathed a +spiritual ozone, refreshing and invigorating, like inhaling +mountain air, or enjoying a bath of sunshine. The power of Sir +Thomas More's gentle nature was so great that it subdued the bad +at the same time that it inspired the good. Lord Brooke said of +his deceased friend, Sir Philip Sidney, that "his wit and +understanding beat upon his heart, to make himself and others, not +in word or opinion, but in life and action, good and great." + +The very sight of a great and good man is often an inspiration to +the young, who cannot help admiring and loving the gentle, the +brave, the truthful, the magnanimous! Cbateaubriand saw +Washington only once, but it inspired him for life. After +describing the interview, he says: "Washington sank into the tomb +before any little celebrity had attached to my name. I passed +before him as the most unknown of beings. He was in all his glory +--I in the depth of my obscurity. My name probably dwelt not a +whole day in his memory. Happy, however, was I that his looks +were cast upon me. I have felt warmed for it all the rest of my +life. There is a virtue even in the looks of a great man." + +When Niebuhr died, his friend, Frederick Perthes, said of him: +"What a contemporary! The terror of all bad and base men, the stay +of all the sterling and honest, the friend and helper of youth." +Perthes said on another occasion: "It does a wrestling man good to +be constantly surrounded by tried wrestlers; evil thoughts are put +to flight when the eye falls on the portrait of one in whose +living presence one would have blushed to own them." A Catholic +money-lender, when about to cheat, was wont to draw a veil over +the picture of his favourite saint. So Hazlitt has said of the +portrait of a beautiful female, that it seemed as if an unhandsome +action would be impossible in its presence. "It does one good to +look upon his manly honest face," said a poor German woman, +pointing to a portrait of the great Reformer hung upon the wall of +her humble dwelling. + +Even the portrait of a noble or a good man, hung up in a room, is +companionship after a sort. It gives us a closer personal +interest in him. Looking at the features, we feel as if we knew +him better, and were more nearly related to him. It is a link +that connects us with a higher and better nature than our own. +And though we may be far from reaching the standard of our hero, +we are, to a certain extent, sustained and fortified by his +depicted presence constantly before us. + +Fox was proud to acknowledge how much he owed to the example and +conversation of Burke. On one occasion he said of him, that "if +he was to put all the political information he had gained from +books, all that he had learned from science, or that the knowledge +of the world and its affairs taught him, into one scale, and the +improvement he had derived from Mr. Burke's conversation and +instruction into the other, the latter would preponderate." + +Professor Tyndall speaks of Faraday's friendship as "energy and +inspiration." After spending an evening with him he wrote: "His +work excites admiration, but contact with him warms and elevates +the heart. Here, surely, is a strong man. I love strength, but +let me not forget the example of its union with modesty, +tenderness, and sweetness, in the character of Faraday." + +Even the gentlest natures are powerful to influence the character +of others for good. Thus Wordsworth seems to have been especially +impressed by the character of his sister Dorothy, who exercised +upon his mind and heart a lasting influence. He describes her as +the blessing of his boyhood as well as of his manhood. Though two +years younger than himself, her tenderness and sweetness +contributed greatly to mould his nature, and open his mind to the +influences of poetry: + + "She gave me eyes, she gave me ears, + And humble cares, and delicate fears; + A heart, the fountain of sweet tears, + And love and thought and joy." + +Thus the gentlest natures are enabled, by the power of affection +and intelligence, to mould the characters of men destined to +influence and elevate their race through all time. + +Sir William Napier attributed the early direction of his +character, first to the impress made upon it by his mother, when a +boy; and afterwards to the noble example of his commander, Sir +John Moore, when a man. Moore early detected the qualities of the +young officer; and he was one of those to whom the General +addressed the encouragement, "Well done, my majors!" at Corunna. +Writing home to his mother, and describing the little court by +which Moore was surrounded, he wrote, "Where shall we find such a +king?" It was to his personal affection for his chief that the +world is mainly indebted to Sir William Napier for his great book, +'The History of the Peninsular War.' But he was stimulated to +write the book by the advice of another friend, the late Lord +Langdale, while one day walking with him across the fields on +which Belgravia is now built. "It was Lord Langdale," he says, +"who first kindled the fire within me." And of Sir William Napier +himself, his biographer truly says, that "no thinking person could +ever come in contact with him without being strongly impressed +with the genius of the man. + +The career of the late Dr. Marshall Hall was a lifelong +illustration of the influence of character in forming character. +Many eminent men still living trace their success in life to his +suggestions and assistance, without which several valuable lines +of study and investigation might not have been entered on, at +least at so early a period. He would say to young men about him, +"Take up a subject and pursue it well, and you cannot fail to +succeed." And often he would throw out a new idea to a young +friend, saying, "I make you a present of it; there is fortune in +it, if you pursue it with energy." + +Energy of character has always a power to evoke energy in others. +It acts through sympathy, one of the most influential of human +agencies. The zealous energetic man unconsciously carries others +along with him. His example is contagious, and compels imitation. +He exercises a sort of electric power, which sends a thrill +through every fibre--flows into the nature of those about him, +and makes them give out sparks of fire. + +Dr. Arnold's biographer, speaking of the power of this kind +exercised by him over young men, says: "It was not so much an +enthusiastic admiration for true genius, or learning, or +eloquence, which stirred within them; it was a sympathetic thrill, +caught from a spirit that was earnestly at work in the world-- +whose work was healthy, sustained, and constantly carried forward +in the fear of God--a work that was founded on a deep sense of +its duty and its value." (7) + +Such a power, exercised by men of genius, evokes courage, +enthusiasm, and devotion. It is this intense admiration for +individuals--such as one cannot conceive entertained for a +multitude--which has in all times produced heroes and martyrs. +It is thus that the mastery of character makes itself felt. It +acts by inspiration, quickening and vivifying the natures subject +to its influence. + +Great minds are rich in radiating force, not only exerting power, +but communicating and even creating it. Thus Dante raised and +drew after him a host of great spirits--Petrarch, Boccacio, +Tasso, and many more. From him Milton learnt to bear the stings +of evil tongues and the contumely of evil days; and long years +after, Byron, thinking of Dante under the pine-trees of Ravenna, +was incited to attune his harp to loftier strains than he had ever +attempted before. Dante inspired the greatest painters of Italy-- +Giotto, Orcagna, Michael Angelo, and Raphael. So Ariosto and +Titian mutually inspired one another, and lighted up each +other's glory. + +Great and good men draw others after them, exciting the +spontaneous admiration of mankind. This admiration of noble +character elevates the mind, and tends to redeem it from the +bondage of self, one of the greatest stumbling blocks to moral +improvement. The recollection of men who have signalised +themselves by great thoughts or great deeds, seems as if to create +for the time a purer atmosphere around us: and we feel as if our +aims and purposes were unconsciously elevated. + +"Tell me whom you admire," said Sainte-Beuve, "and I will tell you +what you are, at least as regards your talents, tastes, and +character." Do you admire mean men?--your own nature is mean. +Do you admire rich men?--you are of the earth, earthy. Do you +admire men of title?--you are a toad-eater, or a tuft-hunter. (8) +Do you admire honest, brave, and manly men?--you are yourself of +an honest, brave, and manly spirit. + +It is in the season of youth, while the character is forming, that +the impulse to admire is the greatest. As we advance in life, we +crystallize into habit; and "NIL ADMIRARI" too often becomes our +motto. It is well to encourage the admiration of great characters +while the nature is plastic and open to impressions; for if the +good are not admired--as young men will have their heroes of some +sort--most probably the great bad may be taken by them for +models. Hence it always rejoiced Dr. Arnold to hear his pupils +expressing admiration of great deeds, or full of enthusiasm for +persons or even scenery. "I believe," said he, "that "NIL +ADMIRARI" is the devil's favourite text; and he could not choose a +better to introduce his pupils into the more esoteric parts of his +doctrine. And, therefore, I have always looked upon a man +infected with the disorder of anti-romance as one who has lost the +finest part of his nature, and his best protection against +everything low and foolish." (9) + +It was a fine trait in the character of Prince Albert that he was +always so ready to express generous admiration of the good deeds +of others. "He had the greatest delight," says the ablest +delineator of his character, "in anybody else saying a fine +saying, or doing a great deed. He would rejoice over it, and talk +about it for days; and whether it was a thing nobly said or done +by a little child, or by a veteran statesman, it gave him equal +pleasure. He delighted in humanity doing well on any occasion and +in any manner." (10) + +"No quality," said Dr. Johnson, "will get a man more friends than +a sincere admiration of the qualities of others. It indicates +generosity of nature, frankness, cordiality, and cheerful +recognition of merit." It was to the sincere--it might almost be +said the reverential--admiration of Johnson by Boswell, that we +owe one of the best biographies ever written. One is disposed to +think that there must have been some genuine good qualities in +Boswell to have been attracted by such a man as Johnson, and to +have kept faithful to his worship in spite of rebuffs and +snubbings innumerable. Macaulay speaks of Boswell as an +altogether contemptible person--as a coxcomb and a bore--weak, +vain, pushing, curious, garrulous; and without wit, humour, or +eloquence. But Carlyle is doubtless more just in his +characterisation of the biographer, in whom--vain and foolish +though he was in many respects--he sees a man penetrated by the +old reverent feeling of discipleship, full of love and admiration +for true wisdom and excellence. Without such qualities, Carlyle +insists, the 'Life of Johnson' never could have been written. +"Boswell wrote a good book," he says, "because he had a heart and +an eye to discern wisdom, and an utterance to render it forth; +because of his free insight, his lively talent, and, above all, of +his love and childlike openmindedness." + +Most young men of generous mind have their heroes, especially if +they be book-readers. Thus Allan Cunningham, when a mason's +apprentice in Nithsdale, walked all the way to Edinburgh for the +sole purpose of seeing Sir Walter Scott as he passed along the +street. We unconsciously admire the enthusiasm of the lad, and +respect the impulse which impelled him to make the journey. It is +related of Sir Joshua Reynolds, that when a boy of ten, he thrust +his hand through intervening rows of people to touch Pope, as if +there were a sort of virtue in the contact. At a much later +period, the painter Haydon was proud to see and to touch Reynolds +when on a visit to his native place. Rogers the poet used to tell +of his ardent desire, when a boy, to see Dr. Johnson; but when his +hand was on the knocker of the house in Bolt Court, his courage +failed him, and he turned away. So the late Isaac Disraeli, when +a youth, called at Bolt Court for the same purpose; and though be +HAD the courage to knock, to his dismay he was informed by the +servant that the great lexicographer had breathed his last only a +few hours before. + +On the contrary, small and ungenerous minds cannot admire +heartily. To their own great misfortune, they cannot recognise, +much less reverence, great men and great things. The mean nature +admires meanly. The toad's highest idea of beauty is his toadess. +The small snob's highest idea of manhood is the great snob. The +slave-dealer values a man according to his muscles. When a Guinea +trader was told by Sir Godfrey Kneller, in the presence of Pope, +that he saw before him two of the greatest men in the world, he +replied: "I don't know how great you may be, but I don't like your +looks. I have often bought a man much better than both of you +together, all bones and muscles, for ten guineas!" + +Although Rochefoucauld, in one of his maxims, says that there is +something that is not altogether disagreeable to us in the +misfortunes of even our best friends, it is only the small and +essentially mean nature that finds pleasure in the disappointment, +and annoyance at the success of others. There are, unhappily, for +themselves, persons so constituted that they have not the heart to +be generous. The most disagreeable of all people are those who +"sit in the seat of the scorner." Persons of this sort often come +to regard the success of others, even in a good work, as a kind of +personal offence. They cannot bear to hear another praised, +especially if he belong to their own art, or calling, or +profession. They will pardon a man's failures, but cannot forgive +his doing a thing better than they can do. And where they have +themselves failed, they are found to be the most merciless of +detractors. The sour critic thinks of his rival: + + "When Heaven with such parts has blest him, + Have I not reason to detest him?" + +The mean mind occupies itself with sneering, carping, and fault- +finding; and is ready to scoff at everything but impudent +effrontery or successful vice. The greatest consolation of such +persons are the defects of men of character. "If the wise erred +not," says George Herbert, "it would go hard with fools." Yet, +though wise men may learn of fools by avoiding their errors, fools +rarely profit by the example which, wise men set them. A German +writer has said that it is a miserable temper that cares only to +discover the blemishes in the character of great men or great +periods. Let us rather judge them with the charity of +Bolingbroke, who, when reminded of one of the alleged weaknesses +of Marlborough, observed,--"He was so great a man that I forgot +he had that defect." + +Admiration of great men, living or dead, naturally evokes +imitation of them in a greater or less degree. While a mere +youth, the mind of Themistocles was fired by the great deeds of +his contemporaries, and he longed to distinguish himself in the +service of his country. When the Battle of Marathon had been +fought, he fell into a state of melancholy; and when asked by his +friends as to the cause, he replied "that the trophies of +Miltiades would not suffer him to sleep." A few years later, we +find him at the head of the Athenian army, defeating the Persian +fleet of Xerxes in the battles of Artemisium and Salamis,--his +country gratefully acknowledging that it had been saved through +his wisdom and valour. + +It is related of Thucydides that, when a boy, he burst into tears +on hearing Herodotus read his History, and the impression made +upon his mind was such as to determine the bent of his own genius. +And Demosthenes was so fired on one occasion by the eloquence of +Callistratus, that the ambition was roused within him of becoming +an orator himself. Yet Demosthenes was physically weak, had a +feeble voice, indistinct articulation, and shortness of breath-- +defects which he was only enabled to overcome by diligent study +and invincible determination. But, with all his practice, he +never became a ready speaker; all his orations, especially the +most famous of them, exhibiting indications of careful +elaboration,--the art and industry of the orator being visible in +almost every sentence. + +Similar illustrations of character imitating character, and +moulding itself by the style and manner and genius of great men, +are to be found pervading all history. Warriors, statesmen, +orators, patriots, poets, and artists--all have been, more or +less unconsciously, nurtured by the lives and actions of others +living before them or presented for their imitation. + +Great men have evoked the admiration of kings, popes, and +emperors. Francis de Medicis never spoke to Michael Angelo +without uncovering, and Julius III. made him sit by his side while +a dozen cardinals were standing. Charles V. made way for Titian; +and one day, when the brush dropped from the painter's hand, +Charles stooped and picked it up, saying, "You deserve to be +served by an emperor." Leo X. threatened with excommunication +whoever should print and sell the poems of Ariosto without the +author's consent. The same pope attended the deathbed of Raphael, +as Francis I. did that of Leonardo da Vinci. + +Though Haydn once archly observed that he was loved and esteemed +by everybody except professors of music, yet all the greatest +musicians were unusually ready to recognise each other's +greatness. Haydn himself seems to have been entirely free from +petty jealousy. His admiration of the famous Porpora was such, +that he resolved to gain admission to his house, and serve him as +a valet. Having made the acquaintance of the family with whom +Porpora lived, he was allowed to officiate in that capacity. +Early each morning he took care to brush the veteran's coat, +polish his shoes, and put his rusty wig in order. At first +Porpora growled at the intruder, but his asperity soon softened, +and eventually melted into affection. He quickly discovered his +valet's genius, and, by his instructions, directed it into the +line in which Haydn eventually acquired so much distinction. + +Haydn himself was enthusiastic in his admiration of Handel. "He +is the father of us all," he said on one occasion. Scarlatti +followed Handel in admiration all over Italy, and, when his name +was mentioned, be crossed himself in token of veneration. +Mozart's recognition of the great composer was not less hearty. +"When he chooses," said he, "Handel strikes like the thunderbolt." +Beethoven hailed him as "The monarch of the musical kingdom." +When Beethoven was dying, one of his friends sent him a present of +Handel's works, in forty volumes. They were brought into his +chamber, and, gazing on them with reanimated eye, be exclaimed, +pointing at them with his finger, "There--there is the truth!" + +Haydn not only recognised the genius of the great men who had +passed away, but of his young contemporaries, Mozart and +Beethoven. Small men may be envious of their fellows, but really +great men seek out and love each other. Of Mozart, Haydn wrote "I +only wish I could impress on every friend of music, and on great +men in particular, the same depth of musical sympathy, and +profound appreciation of Mozart's inimitable music, that I myself +feel and enjoy; then nations would vie with each other to possess +such a jewel within their frontiers. Prague ought not only to +strive to retain this precious man, but also to remunerate him; +for without this the history of a great genius is sad indeed.... +It enrages me to think that the unparalleled Mozart is not yet +engaged by some imperial or royal court. Forgive my excitement; +but I love the man so dearly!" + +Mozart was equally generous in his recognition of the merits of +Haydn. "Sir," said he to a critic, speaking of the latter, "if +you and I were both melted down together, we should not furnish +materials for one Haydn." And when Mozart first heard Beethoven, +he observed: "Listen to that young man; be assured that he will +yet make a great name in the world." + +Buffon set Newton above all other philosophers, and admired him so +highly that he had always his portrait before him while he sat at +work. So Schiller looked up to Shakspeare, whom he studied +reverently and zealously for years, until he became capable of +comprehending nature at first-hand, and then his admiration became +even more ardent than before. + +Pitt was Canning's master and hero, whom he followed and admired +with attachment and devotion. "To one man, while he lived," said +Canning, "I was devoted with all my heart and all my soul. Since +the death of Mr. Pitt I acknowledge no leader; my political +allegiance lies buried in his grave." (11) + +A French physiologist, M. Roux, was occupied one day in lecturing +to his pupils, when Sir Charles Bell, whose discoveries were even +better known and more highly appreciated abroad than at home, +strolled into his class-room. The professor, recognising his +visitor, at once stopped his exposition, saying: "MESSIEURS, C'EST +ASSEZ POUR AUJOURD'HUI, VOUS AVEZ VU SIR CHARLES BELL!" + +The first acquaintance with a great work of art has usually proved +an important event in every young artist's life. When Correggio +first gazed on Raphael's 'Saint Cecilia,' he felt within himself +an awakened power, and exclaimed, "And I too am a painter" So +Constable used to look back on his first sight of Claude's picture +of 'Hagar,' as forming an epoch in his career. Sir George +Beaumont's admiration of the same picture was such that he always +took it with him in his carriage when he travelled from home. + +The examples set by the great and good do not die; they continue +to live and speak to all the generations that succeed them. It +was very impressively observed by Mr. Disraeli, in the House of +Commons, shortly after the death of Mr. Cobden:--"There is this +consolation remaining to us, when we remember our unequalled and +irreparable losses, that those great men are not altogether lost +to us--that their words will often be quoted in this House--that +their examples will often be referred to and appealed to, and that +even their expressions will form part of our discussions and +debates. There are now, I may say, some members of Parliament +who, though they may not be present, are still members of this +House--who are independent of dissolutions, of the caprices of +constituencies, and even of the course of time. I think that Mr. +Cobden was one of those men." + +It is the great lesson of biography to teach what man can be and +can do at his best. It may thus give each man renewed strength +and confidence. The humblest, in sight of even the greatest, may +admire, and hope, and take courage. These great brothers of ours +in blood and lineage, who live a universal life, still speak to us +from their graves, and beckon us on in the paths which they have +trod. Their example is still with us, to guide, to influence, +and to direct us. For nobility of character is a perpetual +bequest; living from age to age, and constantly tending to +reproduce its like. + +"The sage," say the Chinese, "is the instructor of a hundred ages. +When the manners of Loo are heard of, the stupid become +intelligent, and the wavering determined." Thus the acted life of +a good man continues to be a gospel of freedom and emancipation to +all who succeed him: + + "To live in hearts we leave behind, + is not to die." + +The golden words that good men have uttered, the examples they +have set, live through all time: they pass into the thoughts and +hearts of their successors, help them on the road of life, and +often console them in the hour of death. "And the most miserable +or most painful of deaths," said Henry Marten, the Commonwealth +man, who died in prison, "is as nothing compared with the memory +of a well-spent life; and great alone is he who has earned the +glorious privilege of bequeathing such a lesson and example to his +successors! + + + +NOTES. + +(1) 'Letters of Sir Charles Bell,' p. 10. + (2) 'Autobiography of Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck,' p. 179. + +(3) Dean Stanley's 'Life of Dr. Arnold,' i. 151 (Ed. 1858). + +(4) Lord Cockburn's 'Memorials,' pp. 25-6. + +(5) From a letter of Canon Moseley, read at a Memorial Meeting held +shortly after the death of the late Lord Herbert of Lea. + +(6) Izaak Walton's 'Life of George Herbert.' + +(7) Stanley's 'Life and Letters of Dr. Arnold,' i. 33. + +(8) Philip de Comines gives a curious illustration of the subservient, +though enforced, imitation of Philip, Duke of Burgundy, by his +courtiers. When that prince fell ill, and had his head shaved, he +ordered that all his nobles, five hundred in number, should in +like manner shave their heads; and one of them, Pierre de +Hagenbach, to prove his devotion, no sooner caught sight of an +unshaven nobleman, than he forthwith had him seized and carried +off to the barber!--Philip de Comines (Bohn's Ed.), p. 243. + +(9) 'Life,' i. 344. + +(10) Introduction to 'The Principal Speeches and Addresses of H.R.H. +the Prince Consort,' p. 33. + +(11) Speech at Liverpool, 1812. + + + +CHAPTER IV.--WORK. + + + +"Arise therefore, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee." + --l CHRONICLES xxii. 16. + + "Work as if thou hadst to live for aye; + Worship as if thou wert to die to-day."--TUSCAN PROVERB. + + "C'est par le travail qu'on regne."--LOUIS XIV + + "Blest work! if ever thou wert curse of God, + What must His blessing be!"--J. B. SELKIRK. + +"Let every man be OCCUPIED, and occupied in the highest employment +of which his nature is capable, and die with the consciousness +that he has done his best"--Sydney Smith. + + +WORK is one of the best educators of practical character. It +evokes and disciplines obedience, self-control, attention, +application, and perseverance; giving a man deftness and skill in +his special calling, and aptitude and dexterity in dealing with +the affairs of ordinary life. + +Work is the law of our being--the living principle that carries +men and nations onward. The greater number of men have to work +with their hands, as a matter of necessity, in order to live; but +all must work in one way or another, if they would enjoy life as +it ought to be enjoyed. + +Labour may be a burden and a chastisement, but it is also an +honour and a glory. Without it, nothing can be accomplished. All +that is great in man comes through work; and civilisation is its +product. Were labour abolished, the race of Adam were at once +stricken by moral death. + +It is idleness that is the curse of man--not labour. Idleness +eats the heart out of men as of nations, and consumes them as rust +does iron. When Alexander conquered the Persians, and had an +opportunity of observing their manners, he remarked that they did +not seem conscious that there could be anything more servile than +a life of pleasure, or more princely than a life of toil. + +When the Emperor Severus lay on his deathbed at York, whither he +had been borne on a litter from the foot of the Grampians, his +final watchword to his soldiers was, "LABOREMUS" (we must work); +and nothing but constant toil maintained the power and extended +the authority of the Roman generals. + +In describing the earlier social condition of Italy, when the +ordinary occupations of rural life were considered compatible with +the highest civic dignity, Pliny speaks of the triumphant generals +and their men, returning contentedly to the plough. In those days +the lands were tilled by the hands even of generals, the soil +exulting beneath a ploughshare crowned with laurels, and guided by +a husbandman graced with triumphs: "IPSORUM TUNC MANIBUS +IMPERATORUM COLEBANTUR AGRI: UT FAS EST CREDERE, GAUDENTE TERRA +VOMERE LAUREATO ET TRIUMPHALI ARATORE." (1) It was only after +slaves became extensively employed in all departments of industry +that labour came to be regarded as dishonourable and servile. And +so soon as indolence and luxury became the characteristics of the +ruling classes of Rome, the downfall of the empire, sooner or +later, was inevitable. + +There is, perhaps, no tendency of our nature that has to be more +carefully guarded against than indolence. When Mr. Gurney asked +an intelligent foreigner who had travelled over the greater part +of the world, whether he had observed any one quality which, more +than another, could be regarded as a universal characteristic of +our species, his answer was, in broken English, "Me tink dat all +men LOVE LAZY." It is characteristic of the savage as of the +despot. It is natural to men to endeavour to enjoy the products +of labour without its toils. Indeed, so universal is this desire, +that James Mill has argued that it was to prevent its indulgence +at the expense of society at large, that the expedient of +Government was originally invented. (2) + +Indolence is equally degrading to individuals as to nations. +Sloth never made its mark in the world, and never will. Sloth +never climbed a hill, nor overcame a difficulty that it could +avoid. Indolence always failed in life, and always will. It is +in the nature of things that it should not succeed in anything. +It is a burden, an incumbrance, and a nuisance--always useless, +complaining, melancholy, and miserable. + +Burton, in his quaint and curious, book--the only one, Johnson +says, that ever took him out of bed two hours sooner than he +wished to rise--describes the causes of Melancholy as hingeing +mainly on Idleness. "Idleness," he says, "is the bane of body and +mind, the nurse of naughtiness, the chief mother of all mischief, +one of the seven deadly sins, the devil's cushion, his pillow and +chief reposal.... An idle dog will be mangy; and how shall an +idle person escape? Idleness of the mind is much worse than that +of the body: wit, without employment, is a disease--the rust of +the soul, a plague, a hell itself. As in a standing pool, worms +and filthy creepers increase, so do evil and corrupt thoughts in +an idle person; the soul is contaminated.... Thus much I dare +boldly say: he or she that is idle, be they of what condition they +will, never so rich, so well allied, fortunate, happy--let them +have all things in abundance and felicity that heart can wish and +desire, all contentment--so long as he, or she, or they, are +idle, they shall never be pleased, never well in body or mind, but +weary still, sickly still, vexed still, loathing still, weeping, +sighing, grieving, suspecting, offended with the world, with every +object, wishing themselves gone or dead, or else carried away with +some foolish phantasie or other." (3) + +Burton says a great deal more to the same effect; the burden and +lesson of his book being embodied in the pregnant sentence with +which it winds up:- "Only take this for a corollary and +conclusion, as thou tenderest thine own welfare in this, and all +other melancholy, thy good health of body and mind, observe this +short precept, Give not way to solitariness and idleness. BE NOT +SOLITARY--BE NOT IDLE." (4) + +The indolent, however, are not wholly indolent. Though the body +may shirk labour, the brain is not idle. If it do not grow corn, +it will grow thistles, which will be found springing up all along +the idle man's course in life. The ghosts of indolence rise +up in the dark, ever staring the recreant in the face, and +tormenting him: + + "The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices, + Make instrument to scourge us." + +True happiness is never found in torpor of the faculties, (5) but in +their action and useful employment. It is indolence that +exhausts, not action, in which there is life, health, and +pleasure. The spirits may be exhausted and wearied by employment, +but they are utterly wasted by idleness. Hense a wise physician +was accustomed to regard occupation as one of his most valuable +remedial measures. "Nothing is so injurious," said Dr. Marshall +Hall, "as unoccupied time." An archbishop of Mayence used to say +that "the human heart is like a millstone: if you put wheat under +it, it grinds the wheat into flour; if you put no wheat, it grinds +on, but then 'tis itself it wears away." + +Indolence is usually full of excuses; and the sluggard, though +unwilling to work, is often an active sophist. "There is a lion in +the path ;" or "The hill is hard to climb;" or "There is no use +trying--I have tried, and failed, and cannot do it." To the +sophistries of such an excuser, Sir Samuel Romilly once wrote to a +young man:- "My attack upon your indolence, loss of time, &c., was +most serious, and I really think that it can be to nothing but +your habitual want of exertion that can be ascribed your using +such curious arguments as you do in your defence. Your theory is +this: Every man does all the good that he can. If a particular +individual does no good, it is a proof that he is incapable of +doing it. That you don't write proves that you can't; and your +want of inclination demonstrates your want of talents. What an +admirable system!--and what beneficial effects would it be +attended with, if it were but universally received!" + +It has been truly said, that to desire to possess, without being +burdened with the trouble of acquiring, is as much a sign of +weakness, as to recognise that everything worth having is only to +be got by paying its price, is the prime secret of practical +strength. Even leisure cannot be enjoyed unless it is won by +effort. If it have not been earned by work, the price has not +been paid for it. (6) + +There must be work before and work behind, with leisure to fall +back upon; but the leisure, without the work, can no more be +enjoyed than a surfeit. Life must needs be disgusting alike to +the idle rich man as to the idle poor man, who has no work to do, +or, having work, will not do it. The words found tattooed on the +right arm of a sentimental beggar of forty, undergoing his eighth +imprisonment in the gaol of Bourges in France, might be adopted as +the motto of all idlers: "LE PASSE M'A TROMPE; LE PRESENT ME +TOURMENTE; L'AVENIR M'EPOUVANTE;"--(The past has deceived me; the +present torments me; the future terrifies me) + +The duty of industry applies to all classes and conditions of +society. All have their work to do in the irrespective conditions +of life--the rich as well as the poor. (7) The gentleman by +birth and education, however richly he may be endowed with worldly +possessions, cannot but feel that he is in duty bound to +contribute his quota of endeavour towards the general wellbeing in +which he shares. He cannot be satisfied with being fed, clad, and +maintained by the labour of others, without making some suitable +return to the society that upholds him. An honest highminded man +would revolt at the idea of sitting down to and enjoying a feast, +and then going away without paying his share of the reckoning. To +be idle and useless is neither an honour nor a privilege; and +though persons of small natures may be content merely to consume-- +FRUGES CONSUMERE NATI--men of average endowment, of manly +aspirations, and of honest purpose, will feel such a condition to +be incompatible with real honour and true dignity. + +"I don't believe," said Lord Stanley (now Earl of Derby) at +Glasgow, "that an unemployed man, however amiable and otherwise +respectable, ever was, or ever can be, really happy. As work is +our life, show me what you can do, and I will show you what you +are. I have spoken of love of one's work as the best preventive +of merely low and vicious tastes. I will go further, and say that +it is the best preservative against petty anxieties, and the +annoyances that arise out of indulged self-love. Men have thought +before now that they could take refuge from trouble and vexation +by sheltering themselves as it were in a world of their own. The +experiment has, often been tried, and always with one result. You +cannot escape from anxiety and labour--it is the destiny of +humanity.... Those who shirk from facing trouble, find that +trouble comes to them. The indolent may contrive that he shall +have less than his share of the world's work to do, but Nature +proportioning the instinct to the work, contrives that the little +shall be much and hard to him. The man who has only himself to +please finds, sooner or later, and probably sooner than later, +that he has got a very hard master; and the excessive weakness +which shrinks from responsibility has its own punishment too, for +where great interests are excluded little matters become great, +and the same wear and tear of mind that might have been at least +usefully and healthfully expended on the real business of life is +often wasted in petty and imaginary vexations, such as breed and +multiply in the unoccupied brain." (8) + +Even on the lowest ground--that of personal enjoyment--constant +useful occupation is necessary. He who labours not, cannot +enjoy the reward of labour. "We sleep sound," said Sir Walter +Scott, "and our waking hours are happy, when they are employed; +and a little sense of toil is necessary to the enjoyment of +leisure, even when earned by study and sanctioned by the +discharge of duty." + +It is true, there are men who die of overwork; but many more die +of selfishness, indulgence, and idleness. Where men break down by +overwork, it is most commonly from want of duly ordering their +lives, and neglect of the ordinary conditions of physical health. +Lord Stanley was probably right when he said, in his address to +the Glasgow students above mentioned, that he doubted whether +"hard work, steadily and regularly carried on, ever yet hurt +anybody." + +Then, again, length of YEARS is no proper test of length of LIFE. +A man's life is to be measured by what he does in it, and what he +feels in it. The more useful work the man does, and the more he +thinks and feels, the more he really lives. The idle useless man, +no matter to what extent his life may be prolonged, merely +vegetates. + +The early teachers of Christianity ennobled the lot of toil by +their example. "He that will not work," said Saint Paul, "neither +shall he eat;" and he glorified himself in that he had laboured +with his hands, and had not been chargeable to any man. When St. +Boniface landed in Britain, he came with a gospel in one hand and +a carpenter's rule in the other; and from England he afterwards +passed over into Germany, carrying thither the art of building. +Luther also, in the midst of a multitude of other employments, +worked diligently for a living, earning his bread by gardening, +building, turning, and even clockmaking. (9) + +It was characteristic of Napoleon, when visiting a work of +mechanical excellence, to pay great respect to the inventor, and +on taking his leave, to salute him with a low bow. Once at St. +Helena, when walking with Mrs. Balcombe, some servants came along +carrying a load. The lady, in an angry tone, ordered them out of +the way, on which Napoleon interposed, saying, "Respect the +burden, madam." Even the drudgery of the humblest labourer +contributes towards the general wellbeing of society; and it was a +wise saying of a Chinese Emperor, that "if there was a man who did +not work, or a woman that was idle, somebody must suffer cold or +hunger in the empire." + +The habit of constant useful occupation is as essential for the +happiness and wellbeing of woman as of man. Without it, women are +apt to sink into a state of listless ENNUI and uselessness, +accompanied by sick headache and attacks of "nerves." Caroline +Perthes carefully warned her married daughter Louisa to beware of +giving way to such listlessness. "I myself," she said, "when the +children are gone out for a half-holiday, sometimes feel as stupid +and dull as an owl by daylight; but one must not yield to this, +which happens more or less to all young wives. The best relief is +WORK, engaged in with interest and diligence. Work, then, +constantly and diligently, at something or other; for idleness is +the devil's snare for small and great, as your grandfather says, +and he says true." (10) + +Constant useful occupation is thus wholesome, not only for the +body, but for the mind. While the slothful man drags himself +indolently through life, and the better part of his nature sleeps +a deep sleep, if not morally and spiritually dead, the energetic +man is a source of activity and enjoyment to all who come within +reach of his influence. Even any ordinary drudgery is better than +idleness. Fuller says of Sir Francis Drake, who was early sent to +sea, and kept close to his work by his master, that such "pains +and patience in his youth knit the joints of his soul, and made +them more solid and compact." Schiller used to say that he +considered it a great advantage to be employed in the discharge of +some daily mechanical duty--some regular routine of work, that +rendered steady application necessary. + +Thousands can bear testimony to the truth of the saying of Greuze, +the French painter, that work--employment, useful occupation--is +one of the great secrets of happiness. Casaubon was once induced +by the entreaties of his friends to take a few days entire rest, +but he returned to his work with the remark, that it was easier to +bear illness doing something, than doing nothing. + +When Charles Lamb was released for life from his daily drudgery of +desk-work at the India Office, he felt himself the happiest of +men. "I would not go back to my prison," he said to a friend, +"ten years longer, for ten thousand pounds." He also wrote in the +same ecstatic mood to Bernard Barton: "I have scarce steadiness of +head to compose a letter," he said; "I am free! free as air! I +will live another fifty years.... Would I could sell you some of +my leisure! Positively the best thing a man can do is--Nothing; +and next to that, perhaps, Good Works." Two years--two long and +tedious years passed; and Charles Lamb's feelings had undergone an +entire change. He now discovered that official, even humdrum work +--"the appointed round, the daily task"--had been good for him, +though he knew it not. Time had formerly been his friend; it had +now become his enemy. To Bernard Barton he again wrote: "I assure +you, NO work is worse than overwork; the mind preys on itself-- +the most unwholesome of food. I have ceased to care for almost +anything.... Never did the waters of heaven pour down upon a +forlorner head. What I can do, and overdo, is to walk. I am a +sanguinary murderer of time. But the oracle is silent." + +No man could be more sensible of the practical importance of +industry than Sir Walter Scott, who was himself one of the most +laborious and indefatigable of men. Indeed, Lockhart says of him +that, taking all ages and countries together, the rare example of +indefatigable energy, in union with serene self-possession of mind +and manner, such as Scott's, must be sought for in the roll of +great sovereigns or great captains, rather than in that of +literary genius. Scott himself was most anxious to impress upon +the minds of his own children the importance of industry as a +means of usefulness and happiness in the world. To his son +Charles, when at school, he wrote:- "I cannot too much impress +upon your mind that LABOUR is the condition which God has imposed +on us in every station of life; there is nothing worth having that +can be had without it, from the bread which the peasant wins with +the sweat of his brow, to the sports by which the rich man must +get rid of his ENNUI.... As for knowledge, it can no more be +planted in the human mind without labour than a field of wheat can +be produced without the previous use of the plough. There is, +indeed, this great difference, that chance or circumstances may so +cause it that another shall reap what the farmer sows; but no man +can be deprived, whether by accident or misfortune, of the fruits +of his own studies; and the liberal and extended acquisitions of +knowledge which he makes are all for his own use. Labour, +therefore, my dear boy, and improve the time. In youth our steps +are light, and our minds are ductile, and knowledge is easily laid +up; but if we neglect our spring, our summers will be useless and +contemptible, our harvest will be chaff, and the winter of our old +age unrespected and desolate." (11) + +Southey was as laborious a worker as Scott. Indeed, work might +almost be said to form part of his religion. He was only nineteen +when he wrote these words:- "Nineteen years! certainly a fourth +part of my life; perhaps how great a part! and yet I have been of +no service to society. The clown who scares crows for twopence a +day is a more useful man; he preserves the bread which I eat in +idleness." And yet Southey had not been idle as a boy--on the +contrary, he had been a most diligent student. He had not only +read largely in English literature, but was well acquainted, +through translations, with Tasso, Ariosto, Homer, and Ovid. He +felt, however, as if his life had been purposeless, and he +determined to do something. He began, and from that time forward +he pursued an unremitting career of literary labour down to the +close of his life--"daily progressing in learning," to use his +own words--"not so learned as he is poor, not so poor as proud, +not so proud as happy." + +The maxims of men often reveal their character. (12) That of Sir +Walter Scott was, "Never to be doing nothing." Robertson the +historian, as early as his fifteenth year, adopted the maxim of +"VITA SINE LITERIS MORS EST" (Life without learning is death). +Voltaire's motto was, "TOUJOURS AU TRAVAIL" (Always at work). The +favourite maxim of Lacepede, the naturalist, was, "VIVRE C'EST +VEILLER" (To live is to observe): it was also the maxim of Pliny. +When Bossuet was at college, he was so distinguished by his ardour +in study, that his fellow students, playing upon his name, +designated him as "BOS-SUETUS ARATRO" (The ox used to the plough). +The name of VITA-LIS (Life a struggle), which the Swedish poet +Sjoberg assumed, as Frederik von Hardenberg assumed that of NOVA- +LIS, described the aspirations and the labours of both these +men of genius. + +We have spoken of work as a discipline: it is also an educator of +character. Even work that produces no results, because it IS +work, is better than torpor,--inasmuch as it educates faculty, +and is thus preparatory to successful work. The habit of working +teaches method. It compels economy of time, and the disposition +of it with judicious forethought. And when the art of packing +life with useful occupations is once acquired by practice, every +minute will be turned to account; and leisure, when it comes, will +be enjoyed with all the greater zest. + +Coleridge has truly observed, that "if the idle are described as +killing time, the methodical man may be justly said to call it +into life and moral being, while he makes it the distinct object +not only of the consciousness, but of the conscience. He +organizes the hours and gives them a soul; and by that, the very +essence of which is to fleet and to have been, he communicates an +imperishable and spiritual nature. Of the good and faithful +servant, whose energies thus directed are thus methodized, it is +less truly affirmed that he lives in time than that time lives in +him. His days and months and years, as the stops and punctual +marks in the record of duties performed, will survive the wreck of +worlds, and remain extant when time itself shall be no more." (13) + +It is because application to business teaches method most +effectually, that it is so useful as an educator of character. +The highest working qualities are best trained by active and +sympathetic contact with others in the affairs of daily life. It +does not matter whether the business relate to the management of a +household or of a nation. Indeed, as we have endeavoured to show +in a preceding chapter, the able housewife must necessarily be an +efficient woman of business. She must regulate and control the +details of her home, keep her expenditure within her means, +arrange everything according to plan and system, and wisely manage +and govern those subject to her rule. Efficient domestic +management implies industry, application, method, moral +discipline, forethought, prudence, practical ability, insight into +character, and power of organization--all of which are required +in the efficient management of business of whatever sort. + +Business qualities have, indeed, a very large field of action. +They mean aptitude for affairs, competency to deal successfully +with the practical work of life--whether the spur of action lie +in domestic management, in the conduct of a profession, in trade +or commerce, in social organization, or in political government. +And the training which gives efficiency in dealing with these +various affairs is of all others the most useful in practical +life. (14) Moreover, it is the best discipline of character; for +it involves the exercise of diligence, attention, self-denial, +judgment, tact, knowledge of and sympathy with others. + +Such a discipline is far more productive of happiness5 as well as +useful efficiency in life, than any amount of literary culture or +meditative seclusion; for in the long run it will usually be found +that practical ability carries it over intellect, and temper and +habits over talent. It must, however, he added that this is a +kind of culture that can only be acquired by diligent observation +and carefully improved experience. "To be a good blacksmith," +said General Trochu in a recent publication, "one must have forged +all his life: to be a good administrator one should have passed +his whole life in the study and practice of business." + +It was characteristic of Sir Walter Scott to entertain the highest +respect for able men of business; and he professed that he did not +consider any amount of literary distinction as entitled to be +spoken of in the same breath with a mastery in the higher +departments of practical life--least of all with a first-rate +captain. + +The great commander leaves nothing to chance, but provides for +every contingency. He condescends to apparently trivial details. +Thus, when Wellington was at the head of his army in Spain, he +directed the precise manner in which the soldiers were to cook +their provisions. When in India, he specified the exact speed at +which the bullocks were to be driven; every detail in equipment +was carefully arranged beforehand. And thus not only was +efficiency secured, but the devotion of his men, and their +boundless confidence in his command. (15) + +Like other great captains, Wellington had an almost boundless +capacity for work. He drew up the heads of a Dublin Police Bill +(being still the Secretary for Ireland), when tossing off the +mouth of the Mondego, with Junot and the French army waiting for +him on the shore. So Caesar, another of the greatest commanders, +is said to have written an essay on Latin Rhetoric while crossing +the Alps at the head of his army. And Wallenstein when at the +head of 60,000 men, and in the midst of a campaign with the enemy +before him, dictated from headquarters the medical treatment of +his poultry-yard. + +Washington, also, was an indefatigable man of business. From his +boyhood he diligently trained himself in habits of application, of +study, and of methodical work. His manuscript school-books, which +are still preserved, show that, as early as the age of thirteen, +he occupied himself voluntarily in copying out such things as +forms of receipts, notes of hand, bills of exchange, bonds, +indentures, leases, land-warrants, and other dry documents, all +written out with great care. And the habits which he thus early +acquired were, in a great measure, the foundation of those +admirable business qualities which he afterwards so successfully +brought to bear in the affairs of government. + +The man or woman who achieves success in the management of any +great affair of business is entitled to honour,--it may be, to as +much as the artist who paints a picture, or the author who writes +a book, or the soldier who wins a battle. Their success may have +been gained in the face of as great difficulties, and after as +great struggles; and where they have won their battle, it is at +least a peaceful one, and there is no blood on their hands. + +The idea has been entertained by some, that business habits are +incompatible with genius. In the Life of Richard Lovell +Edgeworth, (16) it is observed of a Mr. Bicknell--a respectable +but ordinary man, of whom little is known but that he married +Sabrina Sidney, the ELEVE of Thomas Day, author of 'Sandford and +Merton'--that "he had some of the too usual faults of a man of +genius: he detested the drudgery of business." But there cannot +be a greater mistake. The greatest geniuses have, without +exception, been the greatest workers, even to the extent of +drudgery. They have not only worked harder than ordinary men, but +brought to their work higher faculties and a more ardent spirit. +Nothing great and durable was ever improvised. It is only by +noble patience and noble labour that the masterpieces of genius +have been achieved. + +Power belongs only to the workers; the idlers are always +powerless. It is the laborious and painstaking men who are the +rulers of the world. There has not been a statesman of eminence +but was a man of industry. "It is by toil," said even Louis XIV., +"that kings govern." When Clarendon described Hampden, he spoke +of him as "of an industry and vigilance not to be tired out or +wearied by the most laborious, and of parts not to be imposed on +by the most subtle and sharp, and of a personal courage equal to +his best parts." While in the midst of his laborious though self- +imposed duties, Hampden, on one occasion, wrote to his mother: "My +lyfe is nothing but toyle, and hath been for many yeares, nowe to +the Commonwealth, nowe to the Kinge.... Not so much tyme left as +to doe my dutye to my deare parents, nor to sende to them." +Indeed, all the statesmen of the Commonwealth were great toilers; +and Clarendon himself, whether in office or out of it, was a man +of indefatigable application and industry. + +The same energetic vitality, as displayed in the power of working, +has distinguished all the eminent men in our own as well as in +past times. During the Anti-Corn Law movement, Cobden, writing to +a friend, described himself as "working like a horse, with not a +moment to spare." Lord Brougham was a remarkable instance of the +indefatigably active and laborious man; and it might be said of +Lord Palmerston, that he worked harder for success in his extreme +old age than he had ever done in the prime of his manhood-- +preserving his working faculty, his good-humour and BONHOMMIE, +unimpaired to the end. (17) He himself was accustomed to say, that +being in office, and consequently full of work, was good for his +health. It rescued him from ENNUI. Helvetius even held, that it +is man's sense of ENNUI that is the chief cause of his superiority +over the brute,--that it is the necessity which he feels for +escaping from its intolerable suffering that forces him to +employ himself actively, and is hence the great stimulus +to human progress. + +Indeed, this living principle of constant work, of abundant +occupation, of practical contact with men in the affairs of life, +has in all times been the best ripener of the energetic vitality +of strong natures. Business habits, cultivated and disciplined, +are found alike useful in every pursuit--whether in politics, +literature, science, or art. Thus, a great deal of the best +literary work has been done by men systematically trained in +business pursuits. The same industry, application, economy of +time and labour, which have rendered them useful in the one sphere +of employment, have been found equally available in the other. + +Most of the early English writers were men of affairs, trained to +business; for no literary class as yet existed, excepting it might +be the priesthood. Chaucer, the father of English poetry, was +first a soldier, and afterwards a comptroller of petty customs. +The office was no sinecure either, for he had to write up all the +records with his own hand; and when he had done his "reckonings" +at the custom-house, he returned with delight to his favourite +studies at home--poring over his books until his eyes were +"dazed" and dull. + +The great writers in the reign of Elizabeth, during which there +was such a development of robust life in England, were not +literary men according to the modern acceptation of the word, but +men of action trained in business. Spenser acted as secretary to +the Lord Deputy of Ireland; Raleigh was, by turns, a courtier, +soldier, sailor, and discoverer; Sydney was a politician, +diplomatist, and soldier; Bacon was a laborious lawyer before he +became Lord Keeper and Lord Chancellor; Sir Thomas Browne was a +physician in country practice at Norwich; Hooker was the +hardworking pastor of a country parish; Shakspeare was the manager +of a theatre, in which he was himself but an indifferent actor, +and he seems to have been even more careful of his money +investments than he was of his intellectual offspring. Yet these, +all men of active business habits, are among the greatest writers +of any age: the period of Elizabeth and James I. standing out in +the history of England as the era of its greatest literary +activity and splendour. + +In the reign of Charles I., Cowley held various offices of trust +and confidence. He acted as private secretary to several of the +royalist leaders, and was afterwards engaged as private secretary +to the Queen, in ciphering and deciphering the correspondence +which passed between her and Charles I.; the work occupying all +his days, and often his nights, during several years. And while +Cowley was thus employed in the royal cause, Milton was employed +by the Commonwealth, of which he was the Latin secretary, and +afterwards secretary to the Lord Protector. Yet, in the earlier +part of his life, Milton was occupied in the humble vocation of a +teacher. Dr. Johnson says, "that in his school, as in everything +else which he undertook, he laboured with great diligence, there +is no reason for doubting" It was after the Restoration, when his +official employment ceased, that Milton entered upon the principal +literary work of his life; but before he undertook the writing of +his great epic, he deemed it indispensable that to "industrious +and select reading" he should add "steady observation" and +"insight into all seemly and generous arts and affairs." (18) + +Locke held office in different reigns: first under Charles II. as +Secretary to the Board of Trade and afterwards under William III. +as Commissioner of Appeals and of Trade and Plantations. Many +literary men of eminence held office in Queen Anne's reign. Thus +Addison was Secretary of State; Steele, Commissioner of Stamps; +Prior, Under-Secretary of State, and afterwards Ambassador to +France; Tickell, Under-Secretary of State, and Secretary to the +Lords Justices of Ireland; Congreve, Secretary of Jamaica;, and +Gay, Secretary of Legation at Hanover. + +Indeed, habits of business, instead of unfitting a cultivated mind +for scientific or literary pursuits, are often the best training +for them. Voltaire insisted with truth that the real spirit of +business and literature are the same; the perfection of each being +the union of energy and thoughtfulness, of cultivated intelligence +and practical wisdom, of the active and contemplative essence--a +union commended by Lord Bacon as the concentrated excellence of +man's nature. It has been said that even the man of genius can +write nothing worth reading in relation to human affairs, unless +he has been in some way or other connected with the serious +everyday business of life. + +Hence it has happened that many of the best books, extant have +been written by men of business, with whom literature was a +pastime rather than a profession. Gifford, the editor of the +'Quarterly,' who knew the drudgery of writing for a living, once +observed that "a single hour of composition, won from the business +of the day, is worth more than the whole day's toil of him who +works at the trade of literature: in the one case, the spirit +comes joyfully to refresh itself, like a hart to the waterbrooks; +in the other, it pursues its miserable way, panting and jaded, +with the dogs and hunger of necessity behind." (19) + +The first great men of letters in Italy were not mere men of +letters; they were men of business--merchants, statesmen, +diplomatists, judges, and soldiers. Villani, the author of the +best History of Florence, was a merchant; Dante, Petrarch, and +Boccacio, were all engaged in more or less important embassies; +and Dante, before becoming a diplomatist, was for some time +occupied as a chemist and druggist. Galileo, Galvani, and Farini +were physicians, and Goldoni a lawyer. Ariosto's talent for +affairs was as great as his genius for poetry. At the death of +his father, he was called upon to manage the family estate for the +benefit of his younger brothers and sisters, which he did with +ability and integrity. His genius for business having been +recognised, he was employed by the Duke of Ferrara on important +missions to Rome and elsewhere. Having afterwards been appointed +governor of a turbulent mountain district, he succeeded, by firm +and just governments in reducing it to a condition of comparative +good order and security. Even the bandits of the country +respected him. Being arrested one day in the mountains by a body +of outlaws, he mentioned his name, when they at once offered to +escort him in safety wherever he chose. + +It has been the same in other countries. Vattel, the author of +the 'Rights of Nations,' was a practical diplomatist, and a first- +rate man of business. Rabelais was a physician, and a successful +practitioner; Schiller was a surgeon; Cervantes, Lope de Vega, +Calderon, Camoens, Descartes, Maupertius, La Rochefoucauld, +Lacepede, Lamark, were soldiers in the early part of their +respective lives. + +In our own country, many men now known by their writings, earned +their living by their trade. Lillo spent the greater part of his +life as a working jeweller in the Poultry; occupying the intervals +of his leisure in the production of dramatic works, some of them +of acknowledged power and merit. Izaak Walton was a linendraper +in Fleet Street, reading much in his leisure hours, and storing +his mind with facts for future use in his capacity of biographer. +De Foe was by turns horse-factor, brick and tile maker, +shopkeeper, author, and political agent. + +Samuel Richardson successfully combined literature, with business; +writing his novels in his back-shop in Salisbury Court, Fleet +Street, and selling them over the counter in his front-shop. +William Hutton, of Birmingham, also successfully combined the +occupations of bookselling and authorship. He says, in his +Autobiography, that a man may live half a century and not be +acquainted with his own character. He did not know that he was an +antiquary until the world informed him of it, from having read his +'History of Birmingham,' and then, he said, he could see it +himself. Benjamin Franklin was alike eminent as a printer and +bookseller--an author, a philosopher and a statesman. + +Coming down to our own time, we find Ebenezer Elliott successfully +carrying on the business of a bar-iron merchant in Sheffield, +during which time he wrote and published the greater number of his +poems; and his success in business was such as to enable him to +retire into the country and build a house of his own, in which he +spent the remainder of his days. Isaac Taylor, the author of the +'Natural History of Enthusiasm,' was an engraver of patterns for +Manchester calico-printers; and other members of this gifted +family were followers of the same branch of art. + +The principal early works of John Stuart Mill were written in the +intervals of official work, while he held the office of principal +examiner in the East India House,--in which Charles Lamb, Peacock +the author of 'Headlong Hall,' and Edwin Norris the philologist, +were also clerks. Macaulay wrote his 'Lays of Ancient Rome' in +the War Office, while holding the post of Secretary of War. It is +well known that the thoughtful writings of Mr. Helps are literally +"Essays written in the Intervals of Business." Many of our best +living authors are men holding important public offices--such as +Sir Henry Taylor, Sir John Kaye, Anthony Trollope, Tom Taylor, +Matthew Arnold, and Samuel Warren. + +Mr. Proctor the poet, better known as "Barry Cornwall," was a +barrister and commissioner in lunacy. Most probably he assumed +the pseudonym for the same reason that Dr. Paris published his +'Philosophy in Sport made Science in Earnest' anonymously-- +because he apprehended that, if known, it might compromise his +professional position. For it is by no means an uncommon +prejudice, still prevalent amongst City men, that a person who has +written a book, and still more one who has written a poem, is good +for nothing in the way of business. Yet Sharon Turner, though an +excellent historian, was no worse a solicitor on that account; +while the brothers Horace and James Smith, authors of 'The +Rejected Addresses,' were men of such eminence in their +profession, that they were selected to fill the important and +lucrative post of solicitors to the Admiralty, and they +filled it admirably. + +It was while the late Mr. Broderip, the barrister, was acting as a +London police magistrate, that he was attracted to the study of +natural history, in which he occupied the greater part of his +leisure. He wrote the principal articles on the subject for the +'Penny Cyclopaedia,' besides several separate works of great +merit, more particularly the 'Zoological Recreations,' and 'Leaves +from the Notebook of a Naturalist.' It is recorded of him that, +though he devoted so much of his time to the production of his +works, as well as to the Zoological Society and their admirable +establishment in Regent's Park, of which he was one of the +founders, his studies never interfered with the real business of +his life, nor is it known that a single question was ever raised +upon his conduct or his decisions. And while Mr. Broderip devoted +himself to natural history, the late Lord Chief Baron Pollock +devoted his leisure to natural science, recreating himself in the +practice of photography and the study of mathematics, in both of +which he was thoroughly proficient. + +Among literary bankers we find the names of Rogers, the poet; +Roscoe, of Liverpool, the biographer of Lorenzo de Medici; +Ricardo, the author of 'Political Economy and Taxation; (20) +Grote, the author of the 'History of Greece;' Sir John Lubbock, +the scientific antiquarian; (21) and Samuel Bailey, of Sheffield, +the author of 'Essays on the Formation and Publication of +Opinions,' besides various important works on ethics, political +economy, and philosophy. + +Nor, on the other hand, have thoroughly-trained men of science and +learning proved themselves inefficient as first-rate men of +business. Culture of the best sort trains the habit of +application and industry, disciplines the mind, supplies it with +resources, and gives it freedom and vigour of action--all of +which are equally requisite in the successful conduct of business. +Thus, in young men, education and scholarship usually indicate +steadiness of character, for they imply continuous attention, +diligence, and the ability and energy necessary to master +knowledge; and such persons will also usually be found +possessed of more than average promptitude, address, +resource, and dexterity. + +Montaigne has said of true philosophers, that "if they were great +in science, they were yet much greater in action;... and whenever +they have been put upon the proof, they have been seen to fly to +so high a pitch, as made it very well appear their souls were +strangely elevated and enriched with the knowledge of things." (22) + +At the same time, it must be acknowledged that too exclusive a +devotion to imaginative and philosophical literature, especially +if prolonged in life until the habits become formed, does to a +great extent incapacitate a man for the business of practical +life. Speculative ability is one thing, and practical ability +another; and the man who, in his study, or with his pen in hand, +shows himself capable of forming large views of life and policy, +may, in the outer world, be found altogether unfitted for carrying +them into practical effect. + +Speculative ability depends on vigorous thinking--practical +ability on vigorous acting; and the two qualities are usually +found combined in very unequal proportions. The speculative man +is prone to indecision: he sees all the sides of a question, and +his action becomes suspended in nicely weighing the pros and cons, +which are often found pretty nearly to balance each other; whereas +the practical man overleaps logical preliminaries, arrives at +certain definite convictions, and proceeds forthwith to carry his +policy into action. (23) + +Yet there have been many great men of science who have proved +efficient men of business. We do not learn that Sir Isaac Newton +made a worse Master of the Mint because he was the greatest of +philosophers. Nor were there any complaints as to the efficiency +of Sir John Herschel, who held the same office. The brothers +Humboldt were alike capable men in all that they undertook-- +whether it was literature, philosophy, mining, philology, +diplomacy, or statesmanship. + +Niebuhr, the historian, was distinguished for his energy and +success as a man of business. He proved so efficient as secretary +and accountant to the African consulate, to which he had been +appointed by the Danish Government, that he was afterwards +selected as one of the commissioners to manage the national +finances; and he quitted that office to undertake the joint +directorship of a bank at Berlin. It was in the midst of his +business occupations that he found time to study Roman history, to +master the Arabic, Russian, and other Sclavonic languages, and to +build up the great reputation as an author by which he is now +chiefly remembered. + +Having regard to the views professed by the First Napoleon as to +men of science, it was to have been expected that he would +endeavour to strengthen his administration by calling them to his +aid. Some of his appointments proved failures, while others were +completely successful. Thus Laplace was made Minister of the +Interior; but he had no sooner been appointed than it was seen +that a mistake had been made. Napoleon afterwards said of him, +that "Laplace looked at no question in its true point of view. He +was always searching after subtleties; all his ideas were +problems, and he carried the spirit of the infinitesimal calculus +into the management of business." But Laplace's habits had been +formed in the study, and he was too old to adapt them to the +purposes of practical life. + +With Darn it was different. But Darn had the advantage of some +practical training in business, having served as an intendant of +the army in Switzerland under Massena, during which he also +distinguished himself as an author. When Napoleon proposed to +appoint him a councillor of state and intendant of the Imperial +Household, Darn hesitated to accept the office. "I have passed +the greater part of my life," he said, "among books, and have not +had time to learn the functions of a courtier." "Of courtiers," +replied Napoleon, "I have plenty about me; they will never fail. +But I want a minister, at once enlightened, firm, and vigilant; +and it is for these qualities that I have selected you." Darn +complied with the Emperor's wishes, and eventually became his +Prime Minister, proving thoroughly efficient in that capacity, and +remaining the same modest, honourable, and disinterested man that +he had ever been through life. + +Men of trained working faculty so contract the habit of labour +that idleness becomes intolerable to them; and when driven by +circumstances from their own special line of occupation, they find +refuge in other pursuits. The diligent man is quick to find +employment for his leisure; and he is able to make leisure when +the idle man finds none. "He hath no leisure," says George +Herbert, "who useth it not." "The most active or busy man that +hath been or can be," says Bacon, "hath, no question, many vacant +times of leisure, while he expecteth the tides and returns of +business, except he be either tedious and of no despatch, or +lightly and unworthily ambitious to meddle with things that may be +better done by others." Thus many great things have been done +during such "vacant times of leisure," by men to whom industry +had become a second nature, and who found it easier to work +than to be idle. + +Even hobbies are useful as educators of the working faculty. +Hobbies evoke industry of a certain kind, and at least provide +agreeable occupation. Not such hobbies as that of Domitian, who +occupied himself in catching flies. The hobbies of the King of +Macedon who made lanthorns, and of the King of France who made +locks, were of a more respectable order. Even a routine +mechanical employment is felt to be a relief by minds acting under +high-pressure: it is an intermission of labour--a rest--a +relaxation, the pleasure consisting in the work itself rather than +in the result. + +But the best of hobbies are intellectual ones. Thus men of active +mind retire from their daily business to find recreation in other +pursuits--some in science, some in art, and the greater number in +literature. Such recreations are among the best preservatives +against selfishness and vulgar worldliness. We believe it was +Lord Brougham who said, "Blessed is the man that hath a hobby!" +and in the abundant versatility of his nature, he himself had +many, ranging from literature to optics, from history and +biography to social science. Lord Brougham is even said to have +written a novel; and the remarkable story of the 'Man in the +Bell,' which appeared many years ago in 'Blackwood,' is reputed to +have been from his pen. Intellectual hobbies, however, must not +be ridden too hard--else, instead of recreating, refreshing, +and invigorating a man's nature, they may only have the +effect of sending him back to his business exhausted, +enervated, and depressed. + +Many laborious statesmen besides Lord Brougham have occupied their +leisure, or consoled themselves in retirement from office, by the +composition of works which have become part of the standard +literature of the world. Thus 'Caesar's Commentaries' still +survive as a classic; the perspicuous and forcible style in which +they are written placing him in the same rank with Xenophon, who +also successfully combined the pursuit of letters with the +business of active life. + +When the great Sully was disgraced as a minister, and driven into +retirement, he occupied his leisure in writing out his 'Memoirs,' +in anticipation of the judgment of posterity upon his career as a +statesman. Besides these, he also composed part of a romance +after the manner of the Scuderi school, the manuscript of which +was found amongst his papers at his death. + +Turgot found a solace for the loss of office, from which he had +been driven by the intrigues of his enemies, in the study of +physical science. He also reverted to his early taste for +classical literature. During his long journeys, and at nights +when tortured by the gout, he amused himself by making Latin +verses; though the only line of his that has been preserved was +that intended to designate the portrait of Benjamin Franklin: + + "Eripuit caelo fulmen, sceptrumque tyrannis." + +Among more recent French statesmen--with whom, however, +literature has been their profession as much as politics--may +be mentioned De Tocqueville, Thiers, Guizot, and Lamartine, +while Napoleon III. challenged a place in the Academy by +his 'Life of Caesar.' + +Literature has also been the chief solace of our greatest English +statesmen. When Pitt retired from office, like his great +contemporary Fox, he reverted with delight to the study of the +Greek and Roman classics. Indeed, Grenville considered Pitt the +best Greek scholar he had ever known. Canning and Wellesley, when +in retirement, occupied themselves in translating the odes and +satires of Horace. Canning's passion for literature entered into +all his pursuits, and gave a colour to his whole life. His +biographer says of him, that after a dinner at Pitt's, while the +rest of the company were dispersed in conversation, he and Pitt +would be observed poring over some old Grecian in a corner of the +drawing-room. Fox also was a diligent student of the Greek +authors, and, like Pitt, read Lycophron. He was also the author +of a History of James II., though the book is only a fragment, +and, it must be confessed, is rather a disappointing work. + +One of the most able and laborious of our recent statesmen--with +whom literature was a hobby as well as a pursuit--was the late +Sir George Cornewall Lewis. He was an excellent man of business-- +diligent, exact, and painstaking. He filled by turns the offices +of President of the Poor Law Board--the machinery of which he +created,--Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, and +Secretary at War; and in each he achieved the reputation of a +thoroughly successful administrator. In the intervals of his +official labours, he occupied himself with inquiries into a wide +range of subjects--history, politics, philology, anthropology, +and antiquarianism. His works on 'The Astronomy of the Ancients,' +and 'Essays on the Formation of the Romanic Languages,' might have +been written by the profoundest of German SAVANS. He took +especial delight in pursuing the abstruser branches of learning, +and found in them his chief pleasure and recreation. Lord +Palmerston sometimes remonstrated with him, telling him he was +"taking too much out of himself" by laying aside official papers +after office-hours in order to study books; Palmerston himself +declaring that he had no time to read books--that the reading of +manuscript was quite enough for him. + +Doubtless Sir George Lewis rode his hobby too hard, and but for +his devotion to study, his useful life would probably have been +prolonged. Whether in or out of office, he read, wrote, and +studied. He relinquished the editorship of the 'Edinburgh Review' +to become Chancellor of the Exchequer; and when no longer occupied +in preparing budgets, he proceeded to copy out a mass of Greek +manuscripts at the British Museum. He took particular delight in +pursuing any difficult inquiry in classical antiquity. One of the +odd subjects with which he occupied himself was an examination +into the truth of reported cases of longevity, which, according to +his custom, he doubted or disbelieved. This subject was uppermost +in his mind while pursuing his canvass of Herefordshire in 1852. +On applying to a voter one day for his support, he was met by a +decided refusal. "I am sorry," was the candidate's reply, "that +you can't give me your vote; but perhaps you can tell me whether +anybody in your parish has died at an extraordinary age!" + +The contemporaries of Sir George Lewis also furnish many striking +instances of the consolations afforded by literature to statesmen +wearied with the toils of public life. Though the door of office +may be closed, that of literature stands always open, and men who +are at daggers-drawn in politics, join hands over the poetry of +Homer and Horace. The late Earl of Derby, on retiring from power, +produced his noble version of 'The Iliad,' which will probably +continue to be read when his speeches have been forgotten. Mr. +Gladstone similarly occupied his leisure in preparing for the +press his 'Studies on Homer,' (24) and in editing a translation of +'Farini's Roman State;' while Mr. Disraeli signalised his +retirement from office by the production of his 'Lothair.' Among +statesmen who have figured as novelists, besides Mr. Disraeli, are +Lord Russell, who has also contributed largely to history and +biography; the Marquis of Normanby, and the veteran novelist, Lord +Lytton, with whom, indeed, politics may be said to have been his +recreation, and literature the chief employment of his life. + +To conclude: a fair measure of work is good for mind as well as +body. Man is an intelligence sustained and preserved by bodily +organs, and their active exercise is necessary to the enjoyment of +health. It is not work, but overwork, that is hurtful; and it is +not hard work that is injurious so much as monotonous work, +fagging work, hopeless work. All hopeful work is healthful; and +to be usefully and hopefully employed is one of the great secrets +of happiness. Brain-work, in moderation, is no more wearing than +any other kind of work. Duly regulated, it is as promotive of +health as bodily exercise; and, where due attention is paid to the +physical system, it seems difficult to put more upon a man than he +can bear. Merely to eat and drink and sleep one's way idly +through life is vastly more injurious. The wear-and-tear of rust +is even faster than the tear-and-wear of work. + +But overwork is always bad economy. It is, in fact, great waste, +especially if conjoined with worry. Indeed, worry kills far more +than work does. It frets, it excites, it consumes the body--as +sand and grit, which occasion excessive friction, wear out the +wheels of a machine. Overwork and worry have both to be guarded +against. For over-brain-work is strain-work; and it is exhausting +and destructive according as it is in excess of nature. And the +brain-worker may exhaust and overbalance his mind by excess, just +as the athlete may overstrain his muscles and break his back by +attempting feats beyond the strength of his physical system. + + + +NOTES + +(1)In the third chapter of his Natural History, Pliny relates in what +high honour agriculture was held in the earlier days of Rome; how +the divisions of land were measured by the quantity which could be +ploughed by a yoke of oxen in a certain time (JUGERUM, in one day; +ACTUS, at one spell); how the greatest recompence to a general or +valiant citizen was a JUGERUM; how the earliest surnames were +derived from agriculture (Pilumnus, from PILUM, the pestle for +pounding corn; Piso, from PISO, to grind coin; Fabius, from FABA, +a bean; Lentulus, from LENS, a lentil; Cicero, from CICER, a +chickpea; Babulcus, from BOS, &c.); how the highest compliment was +to call a man a good agriculturist, or a good husbandman +(LOCUPLES, rich, LOCI PLENUS, PECUNIA, from PECUS, &c.); how the +pasturing of cattle secretly by night upon unripe crops was a +capital offence, punishable by hanging; how the rural tribes held +the foremost rank, while those of the city had discredit thrown +upon them as being an indolent race; and how "GLORIAM DENIQUE +IPSAM, A FARRIS HONORE, 'ADOREAM' APPELLABANT;" ADOREA, or Glory, +the reward of valour, being derived from Ador, or spelt, +a kind of grain. + +(2) 'Essay on Government,' in 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' + +(3) Burton's 'Anatomy of Melancholy,' Part i., Mem. 2, Sub. 6. + +(4) Ibid. End of concluding chapter. + +(5) It is characteristic of the Hindoos to regard entire inaction as +the most perfect state, and to describe the Supreme Being as "The +Unmoveable." + +(6) Lessing was so impressed with the conviction that stagnant +satisfaction was fatal to man, that he went so far as to say: "If +the All-powerful Being, holding in one hand Truth, and in the +other the search for Truth, said to me, 'Choose,' I would answer +Him, 'O All-powerful, keep for Thyself the Truth; but leave to me +the search for it, which is the better for me.'" On the other +hand, Bossuet said: "Si je concevais une nature purement +intelligente, il me semble que je n'y mettrais qu'entendre et +aimer la verite, et que cela seul la rendrait heureux." + +(7) The late Sir John Patteson, when in his seventieth year, attended +an annual ploughing-match dinner at Feniton, Devon, at which he +thought it worth his while to combat the notion, still too +prevalent, that because a man does not work merely with his bones +and muscles, he is therefore not entitled to the appellation of a +workingman. "In recollecting similar meetings to the present," he +said, "I remember my friend, John Pyle, rather throwing it in my +teeth that I had not worked for nothing; but I told him, 'Mr. +Pyle, you do not know what you are talking about. We are all +workers. The man who ploughs the field and who digs the hedge is +a worker; but there are other workers in other stations of life as +well. For myself, I can say that I have been a worker ever since +I have been a boy.'... Then I told him that the office of judge +was by no means a sinecure, for that a judge worked as hard as any +man in the country. He has to work at very difficult questions of +law, which are brought before him continually, giving him great +anxiety; and sometimes the lives of his fellow-creatures are +placed in his hands, and are dependent very much upon the manner +in which he places the facts before the jury. That is a matter of +no little anxiety, I can assure you. Let any man think as he +will, there is no man who has been through the ordeal for the +length of time that I have, but must feel conscious of the +importance and gravity of the duty which is cast upon a judge." + +(8) Lord Stanley's Address to the Students of Glasgow University, on +his installation as Lord Rector, 1869. + +(9) Writing to an abbot at Nuremberg, who had sent him a store of +turning-tools, Luther said: "I have made considerable progress in +clockmaking, and I am very much delighted at it, for these drunken +Saxons need to be constantly reminded of what the real time is; +not that they themselves care much about it, for as long as their +glasses are kept filled, they trouble themselves very little as to +whether clocks, or clockmakers, or the time itself, go right."-- +Michelet's LUTHER (Bogue Ed.), p. 200. + +(10) 'Life of Perthes," ii. 20. + +(11) Lockhart's 'Life of Scott' (8vo. Ed.), p. 442. + +(12) Southey expresses the opinion in 'The Doctor', that the character +of a person may be better known by the letters which other persons +write to him than by what he himself writes. + +(13) 'Dissertation on the Science of Method.' + +(14) The following passage, from a recent article in the PALL MALL +GAZETTE, will commend itself to general aproval:- "There can be no +question nowadays, that application to work, absorption in +affairs, contact with men, and all the stress which business +imposes on us, gives a noble training to the intellect, and +splendid opportunity for discipline of character. It is an +utterly low view of business which regards it as only a means of +getting a living. A man's business is his part of the world's +work, his share of the great activities which render society +possible. He may like it or dislike it, but it is work, and as +such requires application, self-denial, discipline. It is his +drill, and he cannot be thorough in his occupation without putting +himself into it, checking his fancies, restraining his impulses, +and holding himself to the perpetual round of small details-- +without, in fact, submitting to his drill. But the perpetual call +on a man's readiness, sell-control, and vigour which business +makes, the constant appeal to the intellect, the stress upon the +will, the necessity for rapid and responsible exercise of judgment +--all these things constitute a high culture, though not the +highest. It is a culture which strengthens and invigorates if it +does not refine, which gives force if not polish--the FORTITER IN +RE, if not the SUAVITER IN MODO. It makes strong men and ready +men, and men of vast capacity for affairs, though it does not +necessarily make refined men or gentlemen." + +(15) On the first publication of his 'Despatches,' one of his friends +said to him, on reading the records of his Indian campaigns: "It +seems to me, Duke, that your chief business in India was to +procure rice and bullocks." "And so it was," replied Wellington: +"for if I had rice and bullocks, I had men; and if I had men, I +knew I could beat the enemy." + +(16) Maria Edgeworth, 'Memoirs of R. L. Edgeworth,' ii. 94. + +(17) A friend of Lord Palmerston has communicated to us the following +anecdote. Asking him one day when he considered a man to be in +the prime of life, his immediate reply was, "Seventy-nine!" +"But," he added, with a twinkle in his eye, "as I have just +entered my eightieth year, perhaps I am myself a little past it." + +(18) 'Reasons of Church Government,' Book II. + +(19) Coleridge's advice to his young friends was much to the same +effect. "With the exception of one extraordinary man," he says, +"I have never known an individual, least of all an individual of +genius, healthy or happy without a profession: i.e., some regular +employment which does not depend on the will of the moment, and +which can be carried on so far mechanically, that an average +quantum only of health, spirits, and intellectual exertion are +requisite to its faithful discharge. Three hours of leisure, +unalloyed by any alien anxiety, and looked forward to with delight +as a change and recreation, will suffice to realise in literature +a larger product of what is truly genial, than weeks of +compulsion.... If facts are required to prove the possibility of +combining weighty performances in literature with full and +independent employment, the works of Cicero and Xenophon, among +the ancients--of Sir Thomas More, Bacon, Baxter, or (to refer at +once to later and contemporary instances) Darwin and Roscoe, are +at once decisive of the question." + --BIOGRAPHIA LITERARIA, Chap. xi. + +(20) Mr. Ricardo published his celebrated 'Theory of Rent,' at the +urgent recommendation of James Mill (like his son, a chief clerk +in the India House), author of the 'History of British India.' +When the 'Theory of Rent' was written, Ricardo was so dissatisfied +with it that he wished to burn it; but Mr. Mill urged him to +publish it, and the book was a great success. + +(21) The late Sir John Lubbock, his father, was also eminent as a +mathematician and astronomer. + +(22) Thales, once inveighing in discourse against the pains and care +men put themselves to, to become rich, was answered by one in the +company that he did like the fox, who found fault with what he +could not obtain. Thereupon Thales had a mind, for the jest's +sake, to show them the contrary; and having upon this occasion for +once made a muster of all his wits, wholly to employ them in the +service of profit, he set a traffic on foot, which in one year +brought him in so great riches, that the most experienced in that +trade could hardly in their whole lives, with all their industry, +have raked so much together. + --Montaignes ESSAYS, Book I., chap. 24. + +(23) "The understanding," says Mr. Bailey, "that is accustomed to +pursue a regular and connected train of ideas, becomes in some +measure incapacitated for those quick and versatile movements +which are learnt in the commerce of the world, and are +indispensable to those who act a part in it. Deep thinking and +practical talents require indeed habits of mind so essentially +dissimilar, that while a man is striving after the one, he will be +unavoidably in danger of losing the other." "Thence," he adds, +"do we so often find men, who are 'giants in the closet,' prove +but 'children in the world.'"--'Essays on the Formation and +Publication of Opinions,' pp.251-3. + +(24) Mr. Gladstone is as great an enthusiast in literature as +Canning was. It is related of him that, while he was waiting +in his committee-room at Liverpool for the returns coming in +on the day of the South Lancashire polling, he occupied himself +in proceeding with the translation of a work which he was then +preparing for the press. + + + +CHAPTER V.--COURAGE. + + + + "It is not but the tempest that doth show + The seaman's cunning; but the field that tries + The captain's courage; and we come to know + Best what men are, in their worst jeopardies."--DANIEL. + + "If thou canst plan a noble deed, + And never flag till it succeed, + Though in the strife thy heart should bleed, + Whatever obstacles control, + Thine hour will come--go on, true soul! + Thou'lt win the prize, thou'lt reach the goal."--C. MACKAY. + +"The heroic example of other days is in great part the source of +the courage of each generation; and men walk up composedly to the +most perilous enterprises, beckoned onwards by the shades of the +brave that were."--HELPS. + + "That which we are, we are, + One equal temper of heroic hearts, + Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will + To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."--TENNYSON. + + +THE world owes much to its men and women of courage. We do not +mean physical courage, in which man is at least equalled by the +bulldog; nor is the bulldog considered the wisest of his species. + +The courage that displays itself in silent effort and endeavour-- +that dares to endure all and suffer all for truth and duty--is +more truly heroic than the achievements of physical valour, which +are rewarded by honours and titles, or by laurels sometimes +steeped in blood. + +It is moral courage that characterises the highest order of +manhood and womanhood--the courage to seek and to speak the +truth; the courage to be just; the courage to be honest; the +courage to resist temptation; the courage to do one's duty. If +men and women do not possess this virtue, they have no security +whatever for the preservation of any other. + +Every step of progress in the history of our race has been made in +the face of opposition and difficulty, and been achieved and +secured by men of intrepidity and valour--by leaders in the van +of thought--by great discoverers, great patriots, and great +workers in all walks of life. There is scarcely a great truth or +doctrine but has had to fight its way to public recognition in the +face of detraction, calumny, and persecution. "Everywhere," says +Heine, "that a great soul gives utterance to its thoughts, there +also is a Golgotha." + + "Many loved Truth and lavished life's best oil, + Amid the dust of books to find her, + Content at last, for guerdon of their toil, + With the cast mantle she had left behind her. + Many in sad faith sought for her, + Many with crossed hands sighed for her, + But these, our brothers, fought for her, + At life's dear peril wrought for her, + So loved her that they died for her, + Tasting the raptured fleetness + Of her divine completeness." (1) + +Socrates was condemned to drink the hemlock at Athens in his +seventy-second year, because his lofty teaching ran counter to the +prejudices and party-spirit of his age. He was charged by his +accusers with corrupting the youth of Athens by inciting them to +despise the tutelary deities of the state. He had the moral +courage to brave not only the tyranny of the judges who condemned +him, but of the mob who could not understand him. He died +discoursing of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul; his +last words to his judges being, "It is now time that we depart--I +to die, you to live; but which has the better destiny is unknown +to all, except to the God." + +How many great men and thinkers have been persecuted in the name +of religion! Bruno was burnt alive at Rome, because of his +exposure of the fashionable but false philosophy of his time. +When the judges of the Inquisition condemned him, to die, Bruno +said proudly: "You are more afraid to pronounce my sentence than I +am to receive it." + +To him succeeded Galileo, whose character as a man of science is +almost eclipsed by that of the martyr. Denounced by the priests +from the pulpit, because of the views he taught as to the motion +of the earth, he was summoned to Rome, in his seventieth year, to +answer for his heterodoxy. And he was imprisoned in the +Inquisition, if he was not actually put to the torture there. He +was pursued by persecution even when dead, the Pope refusing a +tomb for his body. + +Roger Bacon, the Franciscan monk, was persecuted on account of his +studies in natural philosophy, and he was charged with, dealing in +magic, because of his investigations in chemistry. His writings +were condemned, and he was thrown into prison, where he lay for +ten years, during the lives of four successive Popes. It is even +averred that he died in prison. + +Ockham, the early English speculative philosopher, was +excommunicated by the Pope, and died in exile at Munich, where he +was protected by the friendship of the then Emperor of Germany. + +The Inquisition branded Vesalius as a heretic for revealing man to +man, as it had before branded Bruno and Galileo for revealing the +heavens to man. Vesalius had the boldness to study the structure +of the human body by actual dissection, a practice until then +almost entirely forbidden. He laid the foundations of a science, +but he paid for it with his life. Condemned by the Inquisition, +his penalty was commuted, by the intercession of the Spanish king, +into a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; and when on his way back, +while still in the prime of life, he died miserably at Zante, of +fever and want--a martyr to his love of science. + +When the 'Novum Organon' appeared, a hue-and-cry was raised +against it, because of its alleged tendency to produce "dangerous +revolutions," to "subvert governments," and to "overturn the +authority of religion;" (2) and one Dr. Henry Stubbe (whose name +would otherwise have been forgotten) wrote a book against the new +philosophy, denouncing the whole tribe of experimentalists as "a +Bacon-faced generation." Even the establishment of the Royal +Society was opposed, on the ground that "experimental philosophy +is subversive of the Christian faith." + +While the followers of Copernicus were persecuted as infidels, +Kepler was branded with the stigma of heresy, "because," said he, +"I take that side which seems to me to be consonant with the Word +of God." Even the pure and simpleminded Newton, of whom Bishop +Burnet said that he had the WHITEST SOUL he ever knew--who was a +very infant in the purity of his mind--even Newton was accused of +"dethroning the Deity" by his sublime discovery of the law of +gravitation; and a similar charge was made against Franklin for +explaining the nature of the thunderbolt. + +Spinoza was excommunicated by the Jews, to whom he belonged, +because of his views of philosophy, which were supposed to be +adverse to religion; and his life was afterwards attempted by an +assassin for the same reason. Spinoza remained courageous and +self-reliant to the last, dying in obscurity and poverty. + +The philosophy of Descartes was denounced as leading to +irreligion; the doctrines of Locke were said to produce +materialism; and in our own day, Dr. Buckland, Mr. Sedgwick, and +other leading geologists, have been accused of overturning +revelation with regard to the constitution and history of +the earth. Indeed, there has scarcely been a discovery +in astronomy, in natural history, or in physical science, +that has not been attacked by the bigoted and narrow-minded +as leading to infidelity. + +Other great discoverers, though they may not have been charged +with irreligion, have had not less obloquy of a professional and +public nature to encounter. When Dr. Harvey published his theory +of the circulation of the blood, his practice fell off, (3) and +the medical profession stigmatised him as a fool. "The few good +things I have been able to do," said John Hunter, "have been +accomplished with the greatest difficulty, and encountered the +greatest opposition." Sir Charles Bell, while employed in his +important investigations as to the nervous system, which issued in +one of the greatest of physiological discoveries, wrote to a +friend: "If I were not so poor, and had not so many vexations to +encounter, how happy would I be!" But he himself observed that +his practice sensibly fell off after the publication of each +successive stage of his discovery. + +Thus, nearly every enlargement of the domain of knowledge, which +has made us better acquainted with the heavens, with the earth, +and with ourselves, has been established by the energy, the +devotion, the self-sacrifice, and the courage of the great spirits +of past times, who, however much they have been opposed or reviled +by their contemporaries, now rank amongst those whom the +enlightened of the human race most delight to honour. + +Nor is the unjust intolerance displayed towards men of science in +the past, without its lesson for the present. It teaches us to be +forbearant towards those who differ from us, provided they observe +patiently, think honestly, and utter their convictions freely and +truthfully. It was a remark of Plato, that "the world is God's +epistle to mankind;" and to read and study that epistle, so as to +elicit its true meaning, can have no other effect on a well- +ordered mind than to lead to a deeper impression of His power, +a clearer perception of His wisdom, and a more grateful sense +of His goodness. + +While such has been the courage of the martyrs of science, not +less glorious has been the courage of the martyrs of faith. The +passive endurance of the man or woman who, for conscience sake, is +found ready to suffer and to endure in solitude, without so much +as the encouragement of even a single sympathising voice, is an +exhibition of courage of a far higher kind than that displayed in +the roar of battle, where even the weakest feels encouraged and +inspired by the enthusiasm of sympathy and the power of numbers. +Time would fail to tell of the deathless names of those who +through faith in principles, and in the face of difficulty, +danger, and suffering, "have wrought righteousness and waxed +valiant" in the moral warfare of the world, and been content to +lay down their lives rather than prove false to their +conscientious convictions of the truth. + +Men of this stamp, inspired by a high sense of duty, have in past +times exhibited character in its most heroic aspects, and continue +to present to us some of the noblest spectacles to be seen in +history. Even women, full of tenderness and gentleness, not less +than men, have in this cause been found capable of exhibiting the +most unflinching courage. Such, for instance, as that of Anne +Askew, who, when racked until her bones were dislocated, uttered +no cry, moved no muscle, but looked her tormentors calmly in the +face, and refused either to confess or to recant; or such as that +of Latimer and Ridley, who, instead of bewailing their hard fate +and beating their breasts, went as cheerfully to their death as a +bridegroom to the altar--the one bidding the other to "be of good +comfort," for that "we shall this day light such a candle in +England, by God's grace, as shall never be put out;" or such, +again, as that of Mary Dyer, the Quakeress, hanged by the Puritans +of New England for preaching to the people, who ascended the +scaffold with a willing step, and, after calmly addressing those +who stood about, resigned herself into the hands of her +persecutors, and died in peace and joy. + +Not less courageous was the behaviour of the good Sir Thomas More, +who marched willingly to the scaffold, and died cheerfully there, +rather than prove false to his conscience. When More had made his +final decision to stand upon his principles, he felt as if he had +won a victory, and said to his son-in-law Roper: "Son Roper, I +thank Our Lord, the field is won!" The Duke of Norfolk told him +of his danger, saying: "By the mass, Master More, it is perilous +striving with princes; the anger of a prince brings death!". "Is +that all, my lord?" said More; "then the difference between you +and me is this--that I shall die to-day, and you to-morrow." + +While it has been the lot of many great men, in times of +difficulty and danger, to be cheered and supported by their wives, +More had no such consolation. His helpmate did anything but +console him during his imprisonment in the Tower. (4) She could not +conceive that there was any sufficient reason for his continuing +to lie there, when by merely doing what the King required of him, +he might at once enjoy his liberty, together with his fine house +at Chelsea, his library, his orchard, his gallery, and the society +of his wife and children. "I marvel," said she to him one day, +"that you, who have been alway hitherto taken for wise, should now +so play the fool as to lie here in this close filthy prison, and +be content to be shut up amongst mice and rats, when you might be +abroad at your liberty, if you would but do as the bishops have +done?" But More saw his duty from a different point of view: it +was not a mere matter of personal comfort with him; and the +expostulations of his wife were of no avail. He gently put her +aside, saying cheerfully, "Is not this house as nigh heaven as my +own?"--to which she contemptuously rejoined: "Tilly vally +--tilly vally!" + +More's daughter, Margaret Roper, on the contrary, encouraged her +father to stand firm in his principles, and dutifully consoled and +cheered him during his long confinement. Deprived of pen-and-ink, +he wrote his letters to her with a piece of coal, saying in one of +them: "If I were to declare in writing how much pleasure your +daughterly loving letters gave me, a PECK OF COALS would not +suffice to make the pens." More was a martyr to veracity: he +would not swear a false oath; and he perished because he was +sincere. When his head had been struck off, it was placed on +London Bridge, in accordance with the barbarous practice of the +times. Margaret Roper had the courage to ask for the head to be +taken down and given to her, and, carrying her affection for her +father beyond the grave, she desired that it might be buried with +her when she died; and long after, when Margaret Roper's tomb was +opened, the precious relic was observed lying on the dust of what +had been her bosom. + +Martin Luther was not called upon to lay down his life for his +faith; but, from the day that he declared himself against the +Pope, he daily ran the risk of losing it. At the beginning of his +great struggle, he stood almost entirely alone. The odds against +him were tremendous. "On one side," said he himself, "are +learning, genius, numbers, grandeur, rank, power, sanctity, +miracles; on the other Wycliffe, Lorenzo Valla, Augustine, and +Luther--a poor creature, a man of yesterday, standing wellnigh +alone with a few friends." Summoned by the Emperor to appear at +Worms; to answer the charge made against him of heresy, he +determined to answer in person. Those about him told him that he +would lose his life if he went, and they urged him to fly. +"No," said he, "I will repair thither, though I should find +there thrice as many devils as there are tiles upon the housetops!" +Warned against the bitter enmity of a certain Duke George, +he said--"I will go there, though for nine whole days running +it rained Duke Georges." + +Luther was as good as his word; and he set forth upon his perilous +journey. When he came in sight of the old bell-towers of Worms, +he stood up in his chariot and sang, "EIN FESTE BURG IST UNSER +GOTT."--the 'Marseillaise' of the Reformation--the words and +music of which he is said to have improvised only two days before. +Shortly before the meeting of the Diet, an old soldier, George +Freundesberg, put his hand upon Luther's shoulder, and said to +him: "Good monk, good monk, take heed what thou doest; thou art +going into a harder fight than any of us have ever yet been in. +But Luther's only answer to the veteran was, that he had +"determined to stand upon the Bible and his conscience." + +Luther's courageous defence before the Diet is on record, and +forms one of the most glorious pages in history. When finally +urged by the Emperor to retract, he said firmly: "Sire, unless I +am convinced of my error by the testimony of Scripture, or by +manifest evidence, I cannot and will not retract, for we must +never act contrary to our conscience. Such is my profession of +faith, and you must expect none other from me. HIER STEHE ICH: +ICH KANN NICHT ANDERS: GOTT HELFE MIR!" (Here stand I: I cannot do +otherwise: God help me!). He had to do his duty--to obey the +orders of a Power higher than that of kings; and he did it +at all hazards. + +Afterwards, when hard pressed by his enemies at Augsburg, Luther +said that "if he had five hundred heads, he would lose them all +rather than recant his article concerning faith." Like all +courageous men, his strength only seemed to grow in proportion to +the difficulties he had to encounter and overcome. "There is no +man in Germany," said Hutten, "who more utterly despises death +than does Luther." And to his moral courage, perhaps more than +to that of any other single man, do we owe the liberation of +modern thought, and the vindication of the great rights of +the human understanding. + +The honourable and brave man does not fear death compared with +ignominy. It is said of the Royalist Earl of Strafford that, as +he walked to the scaffold on Tower Hill, his step and manner were +those of a general marching at the head of an army to secure +victory, rather than of a condemned man to undergo sentence of +death. So the Commonwealth's man, Sir John Eliot, went alike +bravely to his death on the same spot, saying: "Ten thousand +deaths rather than defile my conscience, the chastity and purity +of which I value beyond all this world." Eliot's greatest +tribulation was on account of his wife, whom he had to leave +behind. When he saw her looking down upon him from the Tower +window, he stood up in the cart, waved his hat, and cried: "To +heaven, my love!--to heaven!--and leave you in the storm!" As +he went on his way, one in the crowd called out, "That is the most +glorious seat you ever sat on;" to which he replied: "It is so, +indeed!" and rejoiced exceedingly. (5) + +Although success is the guerdon for which all men toil, they have +nevertheless often to labour on perseveringly, without any glimmer +of success in sight. They have to live, meanwhile, upon their +courage--sowing their seed, it may be, in the dark, in the hope +that it will yet take root and spring up in achieved result. The +best of causes have had to fight their way to triumph through a +long succession of failures, and many of the assailants have died +in the breach before the fortress has been won. The heroism they +have displayed is to be measured, not so much by their immediate +success, as by the opposition they have encountered, and the +courage with which they have maintained the struggle. + +The patriot who fights an always-losing battle--the martyr who +goes to death amidst the triumphant shouts of his enemies--the +discoverer, like Columbus, whose heart remains undaunted through +the bitter years of his "long wandering woe"--are examples of the +moral sublime which excite a profounder interest in the hearts of +men than even the most complete and conspicuous success. By the +side of such instances as these, how small by comparison seem the +greatest deeds of valour, inciting men to rush upon death and die +amidst the frenzied excitement of physical warfare! + +But the greater part of the courage that is needed in the world is +not of a heroic kind. Courage may be displayed in everyday life +as well as in historic fields of action. There needs, for +example, the common courage to be honest--the courage to resist +temptation--the courage to speak the truth--the courage to be +what we really are, and not to pretend to be what we are not--the +courage to live honestly within our own means, and not dishonestly +upon the means of others. + +A great deal of the unhappiness, and much of the vice, of the +world is owing to weakness and indecision of purpose--in other +words, to lack of courage. Men may know what is right, and yet +fail to exercise the courage to do it; they may understand the +duty they have to do, but will not summon up the requisite +resolution to perform it. The weak and undisciplined man is at +the mercy of every temptation; he cannot say "No," but falls +before it. And if his companionship be bad, he will be all the +easier led away by bad example into wrongdoing. + +Nothing can be more certain than that the character can only be +sustained and strengthened by its own energetic action. The will, +which is the central force of character, must be trained to habits +of decision--otherwise it will neither be able to resist evil nor +to follow good. Decision gives the power of standing firmly, when +to yield, however slightly, might be only the first step in a +downhill course to ruin. + +Calling upon others for help in forming a decision is worse than +useless. A man must so train his habits as to rely upon his own +powers and depend upon his own courage in moments of emergency. +Plutarch tells of a King of Macedon who, in the midst of an +action, withdrew into the adjoining town under pretence of +sacrificing to Hercules; whilst his opponent Emilius, at the same +time that he implored the Divine aid, sought for victory sword in +hand, and won the battle. And so it ever is in the actions of +daily life. + +Many are the valiant purposes formed, that end merely in words; +deeds intended, that are never done; designs projected, that are +never begun; and all for want of a little courageous decision. +Better far the silent tongue but the eloquent deed. For in life +and in business, despatch is better than discourse; and the +shortest answer of all is, DOING. "In matters of great concern, +and which must be done," says Tillotson, "there is no surer +argument of a weak mind than irresolution--to be undetermined +when the case is so plain and the necessity so urgent. To be +always intending to live a new life, but never to find time +to set about it,--this is as if a man should put off eating +and drinking and sleeping from one day to another, until +he is starved and destroyed." + +There needs also the exercise of no small degree of moral courage +to resist the corrupting influences of what is called "Society." +Although "Mrs. Grundy" may be a very vulgar and commonplace +personage, her influence is nevertheless prodigious. Most men, +but especially women, are the moral slaves of the class or caste +to which they belong. There is a sort of unconscious conspiracy +existing amongst them against each other's individuality. Each +circle and section, each rank and class, has its respective +customs and observances, to which conformity is required at the +risk of being tabooed. Some are immured within a bastile of +fashion, others of custom, others of opinion; and few there are +who have the courage to think outside their sect, to act outside +their party, and to step out into the free air of individual +thought and action. We dress, and eat, and follow fashion, though +it may be at the risk of debt, ruin, and misery; living not so +much according to our means, as according to the superstitious +observances of our class. Though we may speak contemptuously +of the Indians who flatten their heads, and of the Chinese +who cramp their toes, we have only to look at the deformities +of fashion amongst ourselves, to see that the reign of +"Mrs. Grundy" is universal. + +But moral cowardice is exhibited quite as much in public as in +private life. Snobbism is not confined to the toadying of the +rich, but is quite as often displayed in the toadying of the poor. +Formerly, sycophancy showed itself in not daring to speak the +truth to those in high places; but in these days it rather shows +itself in not daring to speak the truth to those in low places. +Now that "the masses" (6) exercise political power, there is a +growing tendency to fawn upon them, to flatter them, and to speak +nothing but smooth words to them. They are credited with virtues +which they themselves know they do not possess. The public +enunciation of wholesome because disagreeable truths is avoided; +and, to win their favour, sympathy is often pretended for views, +the carrying out of which in practice is known to be hopeless. + +It is not the man of the noblest character--the highest-cultured +and best-conditioned man--whose favour is now sought, so much as +that of the lowest man, the least-cultured and worst-conditioned +man, because his vote is usually that of the majority. Even men +of rank, wealth, and education, are seen prostrating themselves +before the ignorant, whose votes are thus to be got. They are +ready to be unprincipled and unjust rather than unpopular. It is +so much easier for some men to stoop, to bow, and to flatter, than +to be manly, resolute, and magnanimous; and to yield to prejudices +than run counter to them. It requires strength and courage to +swim against the stream, while any dead fish can float with it. + +This servile pandering to popularity has been rapidly on the +increase of late years, and its tendency has been to lower and +degrade the character of public men. Consciences have become more +elastic. There is now one opinion for the chamber, and another +for the platform. Prejudices are pandered to in public, which in +private are despised. Pretended conversions--which invariably +jump with party interests are more sudden; and even hypocrisy now +appears to be scarcely thought discreditable. + +The same moral cowardice extends downwards as well as upwards. +The action and reaction are equal. Hypocrisy and timeserving +above are accompanied by hypocrisy and timeserving below. Where +men of high standing have not the courage of their opinions, what +is to be expected from men of low standing? They will only follow +such examples as are set before them. They too will skulk, and +dodge, and prevaricate--be ready to speak one way and act another +--just like their betters. Give them but a sealed box, or some +hole-and-corner to hide their act in, and they will then enjoy +their "liberty!" + +Popularity, as won in these days, is by no means a presumption in +a man's favour, but is quite as often a presumption against him. +"No man," says the Russian proverb, "can rise to honour who is +cursed with a stiff backbone." But the backbone of the +popularity-hunter is of gristle; and he has no difficulty in +stooping and bending himself in any direction to catch the breath +of popular applause. + +Where popularity is won by fawning upon the people, by withholding +the truth from them, by writing and speaking down to the lowest +tastes, and still worse by appeals to class-hatred, (7) such a +popularity must be simply contemptible in the sight of all honest +men. Jeremy Bentham, speaking of a well-known public character, +said: "His creed of politics results less from love of the many +than from hatred of the few; it is too much under the influence of +selfish and dissocial affection." To how many men in our own day +might not the same description apply? + +Men of sterling character have the courage to speak the truth, +even when it is unpopular. It was said of Colonel Hutchinson by +his wife, that he never sought after popular applause, or prided +himself on it: "He more delighted to do well than to be praised, +and never set vulgar commendations at such a rate as to act +contrary to his own conscience or reason for the obtaining them; +nor would he forbear a good action which he was bound to, though +all the world disliked it; for he ever looked on things as they +were in themselves, not through the dim spectacles of vulgar +estimation." (8) + +"Popularity, in the lowest and most common sense," said Sir John +Pakington, on a recent occasion, (9) "is not worth the having. Do +your duty to the best of your power, win the approbation of your +own conscience, and popularity, in its best and highest sense, is +sure to follow." + +When Richard Lovell Edgeworth, towards the close of his life, +became very popular in his neighbourhood, he said one day to his +daughter: "Maria, I am growing dreadfully popular; I shall be good +for nothing soon; a man cannot be good for anything who is very +popular." Probably he had in his mind at the time the Gospel +curse of the popular man, "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak +well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." + +Intellectual intrepidity is one of the vital conditions of +independence and self-reliance of character. A man must have the +courage to be himself, and not the shadow or the echo of another. +He must exercise his own powers, think his own thoughts, and speak +his own sentiments. He must elaborate his own opinions, and form +his own convictions. It has been said that he who dare not form +an opinion, must be a coward; he who will not, must be an idler; +he who cannot, must be a fool. + +But it is precisely in this element of intrepidity that so many +persons of promise fall short, and disappoint the expectations of +their friends. They march up to the scene of action, but at every +step their courage oozes out. They want the requisite decision, +courage, and perseverance. They calculate the risks, and weigh +the chances, until the opportunity for effective effort has +passed, it may be never to return. + +Men are bound to speak the truth in the love of it. "I had rather +suffer," said John Pym, the Commonwealth man, "for speaking the +truth, than that the truth should suffer for want of my speaking." +When a man's convictions are honestly formed, after fair and full +consideration, he is justified in striving by all fair means to +bring them into action. There are certain states of society and +conditions of affairs in which a man is bound to speak out, and be +antagonistic--when conformity is not only a weakness, but a sin. +Great evils are in some cases only to be met by resistance; they +cannot be wept down, but must be battled down. + +The honest man is naturally antagonistic to fraud, the truthful +man to lying, the justice-loving man to oppression, the pureminded +man to vice and iniquity. They have to do battle with these +conditions, and if possible overcome them. Such men have in all +ages represented the moral force of the world. Inspired by +benevolence and sustained by courage, they have been the mainstays +of all social renovation and progress. But for their continuous +antagonism to evil conditions, the world were for the most part +given over to the dominion of selfishness and vice. All the great +reformers and martyrs were antagonistic men--enemies to falsehood +and evildoing. The Apostles themselves were an organised band of +social antagonists, who contended with pride, selfishness, +superstition, and irreligion. And in our own time the lives of +such men as Clarkson and Granville Sharpe, Father Mathew and +Richard Cobden, inspired by singleness of purpose, have shown what +highminded social antagonism can effect. + +It is the strong and courageous men who lead and guide and rule +the world. The weak and timid leave no trace behind them; whilst +the life of a single upright and energetic man is like a track of +light. His example is remembered and appealed to; and his +thoughts, his spirit, and his courage continue to be the +inspiration of succeeding generations. + +It is energy--the central element of which is will--that +produces the miracles of enthusiasm in all ages. Everywhere it is +the mainspring of what is called force of character, and the +sustaining power of all great action. In a righteous cause the +determined man stands upon his courage as upon a granite block; +and, like David, he will go forth to meet Goliath, strong in heart +though an host be encamped against him. + +Men often conquer difficulties because they feel they can. Their +confidence in themselves inspires the confidence of others. When +Caesar was at sea, and a storm began to rage, the captain of the +ship which carried him became unmanned by fear. "What art thou +afraid of?" cried the great captain; "thy vessel carries Caesar!" +The courage of the brave man is contagious, and carries others +along with it. His stronger nature awes weaker natures into +silence, or inspires them with his own will and purpose. + +The persistent man will not be baffled or repulsed by opposition. +Diogenes, desirous of becoming the disciple of Antisthenes, went +and offered himself to the cynic. He was refused. Diogenes still +persisting, the cynic raised his knotty staff, and threatened to +strike him if he did not depart. "Strike!" said Diogenes; "you +will not find a stick hard enough to conquer my perseverance." +Antisthenes, overcome, had not another word to say, but forthwith +accepted him as his pupil. + +Energy of temperament, with a moderate degree of wisdom, will +carry a man further than any amount of intellect without it. +Energy makes the man of practical ability. It gives him VIS, +force, MOMENTUM. It is the active motive power of character; +and if combined with sagacity and self-possession, will +enable a man to employ his powers to the best advantage +in all the affairs of life. + +Hence it is that, inspired by energy of purpose, men of +comparatively mediocre powers have often been enabled to +accomplish such extraordinary results. For the men who have most +powerfully influenced the world have not been so much men of +genius as men of strong convictions and enduring capacity for +work, impelled by irresistible energy and invincible +determination: such men, for example, as were Mahomet, Luther, +Knox, Calvin, Loyola, and Wesley. + +Courage, combined with energy and perseverance, will overcome +difficulties apparently insurmountable. It gives force and +impulse to effort, and does not permit it to retreat. Tyndall +said of Faraday, that "in his warm moments he formed a resolution, +and in his cool ones he made that resolution good." Perseverance, +working in the right direction, grows with time, and when steadily +practised, even by the most humble, will rarely fail of its +reward. Trusting in the help of others is of comparatively little +use. When one of Michael Angelo's principal patrons died, he +said: "I begin to understand that the promises of the world are +for the most part vain phantoms, and that to confide in one's +self, and become something of worth and value, is the best +and safest course." + +Courage is by no means incompatible with tenderness. On the +contrary, gentleness and tenderness have been found to +characterise the men, not less than the women, who have done the +most courageous deeds. Sir Charles Napier gave up sporting, +because he could not bear to hurt dumb creatures. The same +gentleness and tenderness characterised his brother, Sir William, +the historian of the Peninsular War. (10) Such also was the +character of Sir James Outram, pronounced by Sir Charles Napier to +be "the Bayard of India, SANS PEUR ET SANS REPROCHE"--one of the +bravest and yet gentlest of men; respectful and reverent to women, +tender to children, helpful of the weak, stern to the corrupt, but +kindly as summer to the honest and deserving. Moreover, he was +himself as honest as day, and as pure as virtue. Of him it might +be said with truth, what Fulke Greville said of Sidney: "He was a +true model of worth--a man fit for conquest, reformation, +plantation, or what action soever is the greatest and hardest +among men; his chief ends withal being above all things the good +of his fellows, and the service of his sovereign and country." + +When Edward the Black Prince won the Battle of Poictiers, in which +he took prisoner the French king and his son, he entertained them +in the evening at a banquet, when he insisted on waiting upon and +serving them at table. The gallant prince's knightly courtesy and +demeanour won the hearts of his captives as completely as his +valour had won their persons; for, notwithstanding his youth, +Edward was a true knight, the first and bravest of his time--a +noble pattern and example of chivalry; his two mottoes, 'Hochmuth' +and 'Ich dien' (high spirit and reverent service) not inaptly +expressing his prominent and pervading qualities. + +It is the courageous man who can best afford to be generous; or +rather, it is his nature to be so. When Fairfax, at the Battle of +Naseby, seized the colours from an ensign whom he had struck down +in the fight, he handed them to a common soldier to take care of. +The soldier, unable to resist the temptation, boasted to his +comrades that he had himself seized the colours, and the boast was +repeated to Fairfax. "Let him retain the honour," said the +commander; "I have enough beside." + +So when Douglas, at the Battle of Bannockburn, saw Randolph, his +rival, outnumbered and apparently overpowered by the enemy, he +prepared to hasten to his assistance; but, seeing that Randolph +was already driving them back, he cried out, "Hold and halt! We +are come too late to aid them; let us not lessen the victory they +have won by affecting to claim a share in it." + +Quite as chivalrous, though in a very different field of action, +was the conduct of Laplace to the young philosopher Biot, when the +latter had read to the French Academy his paper, "SUR LES +EQUATIONS AUX DIFFERENCE MELEES." The assembled SAVANS, at its +close, felicitated the reader of the paper on his originality. +Monge was delighted at his success. Laplace also praised him for +the clearness of his demonstrations, and invited Biot to accompany +him home. Arrived there, Laplace took from a closet in his study +a paper, yellow with age, and handed it to the young philosopher. +To Biot's surprise, he found that it contained the solutions, all +worked out, for which he had just gained so much applause. With +rare magnanimity, Laplace withheld all knowledge of the +circumstance from Biot until the latter had initiated his +reputation before the Academy; moreover, he enjoined him to +silence; and the incident would have remained a secret had not +Biot himself published it, some fifty years afterwards. + +An incident is related of a French artisan, exhibiting the same +characteristic of self-sacrifice in another form. In front of a +lofty house in course of erection at Paris was the usual scaffold, +loaded with men and materials. The scaffold, being too weak, +suddenly broke down, and the men upon it were precipitated to the +ground--all except two, a young man and a middle-aged one, who +hung on to a narrow ledge, which trembled under their weight, and +was evidently on the point of giving way. "Pierre," cried the +elder of the two, "let go; I am the father of a family." "C'EST +JUSTE!" said Pierre; and, instantly letting go his hold, he fell +and was killed on the spot. The father of the family was saved. + +The brave man is magnanimous as well as gentle. He does not take +even an enemy at a disadvantage, nor strike a man when he is down +and unable to defend himself. Even in the midst of deadly strife +such instances of generosity have not been uncommon. Thus, at the +Battle of Dettingen, during the heat of the action, a squadron of +French cavalry charged an English regiment; but when the young +French officer who led them, and was about to attack the English +leader, observed that he had only one arm, with which he held his +bridle, the Frenchman saluted him courteously with his sword, +and passed on. (11) + +It is related of Charles V., that after the siege and capture of +Wittenburg by the Imperialist army, the monarch went to see the +tomb of Luther. While reading the inscription on it, one of the +servile courtiers who accompanied him proposed to open the grave, +and give the ashes of the "heretic" to the winds. The monarch's +cheek flushed with honest indignation: "I war not with the dead," +said he; "let this place be respected." + +The portrait which the great heathen, Aristotle, drew of the +Magnanimous Man, in other words the True Gentleman, more than two +thousand years ago, is as faithful now as it was then. "The +magnanimous man," he said, "will behave with moderation under both +good fortune and bad. He will know how to be exalted and how to +be abased. He will neither be delighted with success nor grieved +by failure. He will neither shun danger nor seek it, for there +are few things which he cares for. He is reticent, and somewhat +slow of speech, but speaks his mind openly and boldly when +occasion calls for it. He is apt to admire, for nothing is great +to him. He overlooks injuries. He is not given to talk about +himself or about others; for he does not care that he himself +should be praised, or that other people should be blamed. He does +not cry out about trifles, and craves help from none." + +On the other hand, mean men admire meanly. They have neither +modesty, generosity, nor magnanimity. They are ready to take +advantage of the weakness or defencelessness of others, especially +where they have themselves succeeded, by unscrupulous methods, in +climbing to positions of authority. Snobs in high places are +always much less tolerable than snobs of low degree, because they +have more frequent opportunities of making their want of manliness +felt. They assume greater airs, and are pretentious in all that +they do; and the higher their elevation, the more conspicuous is +the incongruity of their position. "The higher the monkey +climbs," says the proverb, "the more he shows his tail." + +Much depends on the way in which a thing is done. An act which +might be taken as a kindness if done in a generous spirit, when +done in a grudging spirit, may be felt as stingy, if not harsh and +even cruel. When Ben Jonson lay sick and in poverty, the king +sent him a paltry message, accompanied by a gratuity. The sturdy +plainspoken poet's reply was: "I suppose he sends me this because +I live in an alley; tell him his soul lives in an alley." + +From what we have said, it will be obvious that to be of an +enduring and courageous spirit, is of great importance in the +formation of character. It is a source not only of usefulness in +life, but of happiness. On the other hand, to be of a timid and, +still more, of a cowardly nature is one of the greatest +misfortunes. A. wise man was accustomed to say that one of the +principal objects he aimed at in the education of his sons and +daughters was to train them in the habit of fearing nothing so +much as fear. And the habit of avoiding fear is, doubtless, +capable of being trained like any other habit, such as the habit +of attention, of diligence, of study, or of cheerfulness. + +Much of the fear that exists is the offspring of imagination, +which creates the images of evils which MAY happen, but perhaps +rarely do; and thus many persons who are capable of summoning up +courage to grapple with and overcome real dangers, are paralysed +or thrown into consternation by those which are imaginary. Hence, +unless the imagination be held under strict discipline, we are +prone to meet evils more than halfway--to suffer them by +forestalment, and to assume the burdens which we ourselves create. + +Education in courage is not usually included amongst the branches +of female training, and yet it is really of greater importance +than either music, French, or the use of the globes. Contrary to +the view of Sir Richard Steele, that women should be characterised +by a "tender fear," and "an inferiority which makes her lovely," +we would have women educated in resolution and courage, as a means +of rendering them more helpful, more self-reliant, and vastly more +useful and happy. + +There is, indeed, nothing attractive in timidity, nothing loveable +in fear. All weakness, whether of mind or body, is equivalent to +deformity, and the reverse of interesting. Courage is graceful +and dignified, whilst fear, in any form, is mean and repulsive. +Yet the utmost tenderness and gentleness are consistent with +courage. Ary Scheffer, the artist, once wrote to his daughter:- +"Dear daughter, strive to be of good courage, to be gentle- +hearted; these are the true qualities for woman. 'Troubles' +everybody must expect. There is but one way of looking at fate-- +whatever that be, whether blessings or afflictions--to behave +with dignity under both. We must not lose heart, or it will be +the worse both for ourselves and for those whom we love. +To struggle, and again and again to renew the conflict +--THIS is life's inheritance." (12) + +In sickness and sorrow, none are braver and less complaining +sufferers than women. Their courage, where their hearts are +concerned, is indeed proverbial: + + "Oh! femmes c'est a tort qu'on vous nommes timides, + A la voix de vos coeurs vous etes intrepides." + +Experience has proved that women can be as enduring as men, under +the heaviest trials and calamities; but too little pains are taken +to teach them to endure petty terrors and frivolous vexations with +fortitude. Such little miseries, if petted and indulged, quickly +run into sickly sensibility, and become the bane of their life, +keeping themselves and those about them in a state of chronic +discomfort. + +The best corrective of this condition of mind is wholesome moral +and mental discipline. Mental strength is as necessary for the +development of woman's character as of man's. It gives her +capacity to deal with the affairs of life, and presence of mind, +which enable her to act with vigour and effect in moments of +emergency. Character, in a woman, as in a man, will always be +found the best safeguard of virtue, the best nurse of religion, +the best corrective of Time. Personal beauty soon passes; but +beauty of mind and character increases in attractiveness +the older it grows. + +Ben Jonson gives a striking portraiture of a noble woman in +these lines:- + + "I meant she should be courteous, facile, sweet, + Free from that solemn vice of greatness, pride; + I meant each softed virtue there should meet, + Fit in that softer bosom to abide. + Only a learned and a manly soul, + I purposed her, that should with even powers, + The rock, the spindle, and the shears control + Of destiny, and spin her own free hours.' + +The courage of woman is not the less true because it is for the +most part passive. It is not encouraged by the cheers of the +world, for it is mostly exhibited in the recesses of private life. +Yet there are cases of heroic patience and endurance on the part +of women which occasionally come to the light of day. One of the +most celebrated instances in history is that of Gertrude Von der +Wart. Her husband, falsely accused of being an accomplice in the +murder of the Emperor Albert, was condemned to the most frightful +of all punishments--to be broken alive on the wheel. With most +profound conviction of her husband's innocence the faithful woman +stood by his side to the last, watching over him during two +days and nights, braving the empress's anger and the inclemency +of the weather, in the hope of contributing to soothe his +dying agonies. (13) + +But women have not only distinguished themselves for their passive +courage: impelled by affection, or the sense of duty, they have +occasionally become heroic. When the band of conspirators, who +sought the life of James II. of Scotland, burst into his lodgings +at Perth, the king called to the ladies, who were in the chamber +outside his room, to keep the door as well as they could, and give +him time to escape. The conspirators had previously destroyed the +locks of the doors, so that the keys could not be turned; and when +they reached the ladies' apartment, it was found that the bar also +had been removed. But, on hearing them approach, the brave +Catherine Douglas, with the hereditary courage of her family, +boldly thrust her arm across the door instead of the bar; and held +it there until, her arm being broken, the conspirators burst into +the room with drawn swords and daggers, overthrowing the ladies, +who, though unarmed, still endeavoured to resist them. + +The defence of Lathom House by Charlotte de la Tremouille, the +worthy descendant of William of Nassau and Admiral Coligny, was +another striking instance of heroic bravery on the part of a noble +woman. When summoned by the Parliamentary forces to surrender, +she declared that she had been entrusted by her husband with the +defence of the house, and that she could not give it up without +her dear lord's orders, but trusted in God for protection and +deliverance. In her arrangements for the defence, she is +described as having "left nothing with her eye to be excused +afterwards by fortune or negligence, and added to her former +patience a most resolved fortitude." The brave lady held her +house and home good against the enemy for a whole year--during +three months of which the place was strictly besieged and +bombarded--until at length the siege was raised, after a most +gallant defence, by the advance of the Royalist army. + +Nor can we forget the courage of Lady Franklin, who persevered to +the last, when the hopes of all others had died out, in +prosecuting the search after the Franklin Expedition. On the +occasion of the Royal Geographical Society determining to award +the Founder's Medal to Lady Franklin, Sir Roderick Murchison +observed, that in the course of a long friendship with her, he had +abundant opportunities of observing and testing the sterling +qualities of a woman who had proved herself worthy of the +admiration of mankind. "Nothing daunted by failure after failure, +through twelve long years of hope deferred, she had persevered, +with a singleness of purpose and a sincere devotion which were +truly unparalleled. And now that her one last expedition of the +FOX, under the gallant M'Clintock, had realised the two great +facts--that her husband had traversed wide seas unknown to former +navigators, and died in discovering a north-west passage--then, +surely, the adjudication of the medal would be hailed by the +nation as one of the many recompences to which the widow of the +illustrious Franklin was so eminently entitled." + +But that devotion to duty which marks the heroic character has +more often been exhibited by women in deeds of charity and mercy. +The greater part of these are never known, for they are done in +private, out of the public sight, and for the mere love of doing +good. Where fame has come to them, because of the success which +has attended their labours in a more general sphere, it has come +unsought and unexpected, and is often felt as a burden. Who has +not heard of Mrs. Fry and Miss Carpenter as prison visitors and +reformers; of Mrs. Chisholm and Miss Rye as promoters of +emigration; and of Miss Nightingale and Miss Garrett as apostles +of hospital nursing? + +That these women should have emerged from the sphere of private +and domestic life to become leaders in philanthropy, indicates no +small, degree of moral courage on their part; for to women, above +all others, quiet and ease and retirement are most natural and +welcome. Very few women step beyond the boundaries of home in +search of a larger field of usefulness. But when they have +desired one, they have had no difficulty in finding it. The ways +in which men and women can help their neighbours are innumerable. +It needs but the willing heart and ready hand. Most of the +philanthropic workers we have named, however, have scarcely been +influenced by choice. The duty lay in their way--it seemed +to be the nearest to them--and they set about doing it +without desire for fame, or any other reward but the approval +of their own conscience. + +Among prison-visitors, the name of Sarah Martin is much less known +than that of Mrs. Fry, although she preceded her in the work. How +she was led to undertake it, furnishes at the same time +an illustration of womanly trueheartedness and earnest +womanly courage. + +Sarah Martin was the daughter of poor parents, and was left an +orphan at an early age. She was brought up by her grandmother, at +Caistor, near Yarmouth, and earned her living by going out to +families as assistant-dressmaker, at a shilling a day. In 1819, a +woman was tried and sentenced to imprisonment in Yarmouth Gaol, +for cruelly beating and illusing her child, and her crime became +the talk of the town. The young dressmaker was much impressed by +the report of the trial, and the desire entered her mind of +visiting the woman in gaol, and trying to reclaim her. She had +often before, on passing the walls of the borough gaol, felt +impelled to seek admission, with the object of visiting the +inmates, reading the Scriptures to them, and endeavouring to lead +them back to the society whose laws they had violated. + +At length she could not resist her impulse to visit the mother. +She entered the gaol-porch, lifted the knocker, and asked the +gaoler for admission. For some reason or other she was refused; +but she returned, repeated her request, and this time she was +admitted. The culprit mother shortly stood before her. When +Sarah Martin told the motive of her visit, the criminal burst into +tears, and thanked her. Those tears and thanks shaped the whole +course of Sarah Martin's after-life; and the poor seamstress, +while maintaining herself by her needle, continued to spend her +leisure hours in visiting the prisoners, and endeavouring to +alleviate their condition. She constituted herself their chaplain +and schoolmistress, for at that time they had neither; she read to +them from the Scriptures, and taught them to read and write. She +gave up an entire day in the week for this purpose, besides +Sundays, as well as other intervals of spare time, "feeling," she +says, "that the blessing of God was upon her." She taught the +women to knit, to sew, and to cut out; the sale of the articles +enabling her to buy other materials, and to continue the +industrial education thus begun. She also taught the men to +make straw hats, men's and boys' caps, gray cotton shirts, +and even patchwork--anything to keep them out of idleness, +and from preying on their own thoughts. Out of the earnings +of the prisoners in this way, she formed a fund, which she +applied to furnishing them with work on their discharge; +thus enabling them again to begin the world honestly, +and at the same time affording her, as she herself says, +"the advantage of observing their conduct." + +By attending too exclusively to this prison-work, however, Sarah +Martin's dressmaking business fell off; and the question arose +with her, whether in order to recover her business she was to +suspend her prison-work. But her decision had already been made. +"I had counted the cost," she said, "and my mind, was made up. +If, whilst imparting truth to others, I became exposed to temporal +want, the privations so momentary to an individual would not admit +of comparison with following the Lord, in thus administering to +others." She now devoted six or seven hours every day to the +prisoners, converting what would otherwise have been a scene of +dissolute idleness into a hive of orderly industry. Newly- +admitted prisoners were sometimes refractory, but her persistent +gentleness eventually won their respect and co-operation. Men old +in years and crime, pert London pickpockets, depraved boys and +dissolute sailors, profligate women, smugglers, poachers, and the +promiscuous horde of criminals which usually fill the gaol of a +seaport and county town, all submitted to the benign influence of +this good woman; and under her eyes they might be seen, for the +first time in their lives, striving to hold a pen, or to master +the characters in a penny primer. She entered into their +confidences--watched, wept, prayed, and felt for all by turns. +She strengthened their good resolutions, cheered the hopeless and +despairing, and endeavoured to put all, and hold all, in the right +road of amendment. + +For more than twenty years this good and truehearted woman pursued +her noble course, with little encouragement, and not much help; +almost her only means of subsistence consisting in an annual +income of ten or twelve pounds left by her grandmother, eked out +by her little earnings at dressmaking. During the last two years +of her ministrations, the borough magistrates of Yarmouth, knowing +that her self-imposed labours saved them the expense of a +schoolmaster and chaplain (which they had become bound by law to +appoint), made a proposal to her of an annual salary of œ12 a +year; but they did it in so indelicate a manner as greatly to +wound her sensitive feelings. She shrank from becoming the +salaried official of the corporation, and bartering for money +those serviced which had throughout been labours of love. But the +Gaol Committee coarsely informed her, "that if they permitted her +to visit the prison she must submit to their terms, or be +excluded." For two years, therefore, she received the salary of +œ12 a year--the acknowledgment of the Yarmouth corporation for +her services as gaol chaplain and schoolmistress! She was now, +however, becoming old and infirm, and the unhealthy atmosphere of +the gaol did much towards finally disabling her. While she lay on +her deathbed, she resumed the exercise of a talent she had +occasionally practised before in her moments of leisure--the +composition of sacred poetry. As works of art, they may not +excite admiration; yet never were verses written truer in spirit, +or fuller of Christian love. But her own life was a nobler +poem than any she ever wrote--full of true courage, perseverance, +charity, and wisdom. It was indeed a commentary upon +her own words: + + "The high desire that others may be blest + Savours of heaven." + + + +NOTES + +(1) James Russell Lowell. + +(2) Yet Bacon himself had written, "I would rather believe all the +faiths in the Legend, and the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that +this universal frame is without a mind." + +(3) Aubrey, in his 'Natural History of Wiltshire,' alluding to Harvey, +says: "He told me himself that upon publishing that book he fell +in his practice extremely." + +(4) Sir Thomas More's first wife, Jane Colt, was originally a young +country girl, whom he himself instructed in letters, and moulded +to his own tastes and manners. She died young, leaving a son and +three daughters, of whom the noble Margaret Roper most resembled +More himself. His second wife was Alice Middleton, a widow, some +seven years older than More, not beautiful--for he characterized +her as "NEC BELLA, NEC PUELLA"--but a shrewd worldly woman, not +by any means disposed to sacrifice comfort and good cheer for +considerations such as those which so powerfully influenced the +mind of her husband. + +(5)Before being beheaded, Eliot said, "Death is but a little word; +but ''tis a great work to die.'" In his 'Prison Thoughts' before +his execution, he wrote: "He that fears not to die, fears +nothing.... There is a time to live, and a time to die. A good +death is far better and more eligible than an ill life. A wise +man lives but so long as his life is worth more than his death. +The longer life is not always the better." + +(6) Mr. J. S. Mill, in his book 'On Liberty,' describes "the masses," +as "collective mediocrity." "The initiation of all wise or noble +things," he says, "comes, and must come, from individuals-- +generally at first from some one individual. The honour and glory +of the average man is that he is capable of following that +imitation; that he can respond internally to wise and noble +things, and be led to them with his eyes open.... In this age, +the mere example of nonconformity, the mere refusal to bend the +knee to custom, is itself a service. Precisely because the +tyranny of opinion is such as to make eccentricity a reproach, it +is desirable, in order to break through that tyranny, that people +should be eccentric. Eccentricity has always abounded when and +where strength of character has abounded; and the amount of +eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the +amount of genius, mental vigour, and moral courage which it +contained. That so few now dare to be eccentric, marks the chief +danger of the time."--Pp. 120-1. + +(7) Mr. Arthur Helps, in one of his thoughtful books, published in +1845, made some observations on this point, which are not less +applicable now. He there said: "it is a grievous thing to see +literature made a vehicle for encouraging the enmity of class to +class. Yet this, unhappily, is not unfrequent now. Some great +man summed up the nature of French novels by calling them the +Literature of Despair; the kind of writing that I deprecate may be +called the Literature of Envy.... Such writers like to throw +their influence, as they might say, into the weaker scale. But +that is not the proper way of looking at the matter. I think, if +they saw the ungenerous nature of their proceedings, that alone +would stop them. They should recollect that literature may fawn +upon the masses as well as the aristocracy; and in these days the +temptation is in the former direction. But what is most grievous +in this kind of writing is the mischief it may do to the working- +people themselves. If you have their true welfare at heart, you +will not only care for their being fed and clothed, but you will +be anxious not to encourage unreasonable expectations in them-- +not to make them ungrateful or greedy-minded. Above all, you will +be solicitous to preserve some self-reliance in them. You will be +careful not to let them think that their condition can be wholly +changed without exertion of their own. You would not desire to +have it so changed. Once elevate your ideal of what you wish to +happen amongst the labouring population, and you will not easily +admit anything in your writings that may injure their moral or +their mental character, even if you thought it might hasten some +physical benefit for them. That is the way to make your genius +most serviceable to mankind. Depend upon it, honest and bold +things require to be said to the lower as well as the higher +classes; and the former are in these times much less likely to +have, such things addressed to them."-Claims of Labour, pp. 253-4. + +(8) 'Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson' (Bohn's Ed.), p. 32. + +(9) At a public meeting held at Worcester, in 1867, in recognition of +Sir J. Pakington's services as Chairman of Quarter Sessions for a +period of twenty-four years, the following remarks, made by Sir +John on the occasion, are just and valuable as they are modest:- +"I am indebted for whatever measure of success I have attained in +my public life, to a combination of moderate abilities, with +honesty of intention, firmness of purpose, and steadiness of +conduct. If I were to offer advice to any young man anxious to +make himself useful in public life, I would sum up the results of +my experience in three short rules--rules so simple that any man +may understand them, and so easy that any man may act upon them. +My first rule would be--leave it to others to judge of what +duties you are capable, and for what position you are fitted; but +never refuse to give your services in whatever capacity it may be +the opinion of others who are competent to judge that you may +benefit your neighbours or your country. My second rule is--when +you agree to undertake public duties, concentrate every energy and +faculty in your possession with the determination to discharge +those duties to the best of your ability. Lastly, I would counsel +you that, in deciding on the line which you will take in public +affairs, you should be guided in your decision by that which, +after mature deliberation, you believe to be right, and not by +that which, in the passing hour, may happen to be fashionable +or popular." + +(10) The following illustration of one of his minute acts of kindness +is given in his biography:- "He was one day taking a long country +walk near Freshford, when he met a little girl, about five years +old, sobbing over a broken bowl; she had dropped and broken it in +bringing it back from the field to which she had taken her +father's dinner in it, and she said she would be beaten on her +return home for having broken it; when, with a sudden gleam of +hope, she innocently looked up into his face, and said, 'But yee +can mend it, can't ee?' + +"My father explained that he could not mend the bowl, but the +trouble he could, by the gift of a sixpence to buy another. +However, on opening his purse it was empty of silver, and he had +to make amends by promising to meet his little friend in the same +spot at the same hour next day, and to bring the sixpence with +him, bidding her, meanwhile, tell her mother she had seen a +gentleman who would bring her the money for the bowl next day. +The child, entirely trusting him, went on her way comforted. On +his return home he found an invitation awaiting him to dine in +Bath the following evening, to meet some one whom he specially +wished to see. He hesitated for some little time, trying to +calculate the possibility of giving the meeting to his little +friend of the broken bowl and of still being in time for the +dinner-party in Bath; but finding this could not be, he wrote to +decline accepting the invitation on the plea of 'a pre- +engagement,' saying to us, 'I cannot disappoint her, she trusted +me so implicitly.'" + +(11) Miss Florence Nightingale has related the following incident as +having occurred before Sebastopol:- "I remember a sergeant who, on +picket, the rest of the picket killed and himself battered about +the head, stumbled back to camp, and on his way picked up a +wounded man and brought him in on his shoulders to the lines, +where he fell down insensible. When, after many hours, he +recovered his senses, I believe after trepanning, his first words +were to ask after his comrade, 'Is he alive?' 'Comrade, indeed; +yes, he's alive--it is the general.' At that moment the general, +though badly wounded, appeared at the bedside. 'Oh, general, it's +you, is it, I brought in? I'm so glad; I didn't know your honour. +But, ---, if I'd known it was you, I'd have saved you all the +same.' This is the true soldier's spirit." + +In the same letter, Miss Nightingale says: "England, from her +grand mercantile and commercial successes, has been called sordid; +God knows she is not. The simple courage, the enduring patience, +the good sense, the strength to suffer in silence--what nation +shows more of this in war than is shown by her commonest soldier? +I have seen men dying of dysentery, but scorning to report +themselves sick lest they should thereby throw more labour on +their comrades, go down to the trenches and make the trenches +their deathbed. There is nothing in history to compare with it.... + +Say what men will, there is something more truly Christian in the +man who gives his time, his strength, his life, if need be, for +something not himself--whether he call it his Queen, his country, +or his colours--than in all the asceticism, the fasts, the +humiliations, and confessions which have ever been made: and this +spirit of giving one's life, without calling it a sacrifice, is +found nowhere so truly as in England." + +(12) Mrs. Grote's 'Life of Ary Scheffer,' pp. 154-5. + +(13) The sufferings of this noble woman, together with those of her +unfortunate husband, were touchingly described in a letter +afterwards addressed by her to a female friend, which was +published some years ago at Haarlem, entitled, 'Gertrude von der +Wart; or, Fidelity unto Death.' Mrs. Hemans wrote a poem of great +pathos and beauty, commemorating the sad story in her 'Records of +Woman.' + + + +CHAPTER VI.--SELF-CONTROL. + + + +"Honour and profit do not always lie in the same sack."--GEORGE +HERBERT. + +"The government of one's self is the only true freedom for the +Individual."--FREDERICK PERTHES. + +"It is in length of patience, and endurance, and forbearance, that +so much of what is good in mankind and womankind is shown."-- +ARTHUR HELPS. + + "Temperance, proof + Against all trials; industry severe + And constant as the motion of the day; + Stern self-denial round him spread, with shade + That might be deemed forbidding, did not there + All generous feelings flourish and rejoice; + Forbearance, charity indeed and thought, + And resolution competent to take + Out of the bosom of simplicity + All that her holy customs recommend."--WORDSWORTH. + + +Self-control is only courage under another form. It may almost be +regarded as the primary essence of character. It is in virtue of +this quality that Shakspeare defines man as a being "looking +before and after." It forms the chief distinction between man +and the mere animal; and, indeed, there can be no true manhood +without it. + +Self-control is at the root of all the virtues. Let a man give +the reins to his impulses and passions, and from that moment he +yields up his moral freedom. He is carried along the current +of life, and becomes the slave of his strongest desire for +the time being. + +To be morally free--to be more than an animal--man must be able +to resist instinctive impulse, and this can only be done by the +exercise of self-control. Thus it is this power which constitutes +the real distinction between a physical and a moral life, and that +forms the primary basis of individual character. + +In the Bible praise is given, not to the strong man who "taketh a +city," but to the stronger man who "ruleth his own spirit." This +stronger man is he who, by discipline, exercises a constant +control over his thoughts, his speech, and his acts. Nine-tenths +of the vicious desires that degrade society, and which, when +indulged, swell into the crimes that disgrace it, would shrink +into insignificance before the advance of valiant self-discipline, +self-respect, and self-control. By the watchful exercise of these +virtues, purity of heart and mind become habitual, and the +character is built up in chastity, virtue, and temperance. + +The best support of character will always be found in habit, +which, according as the will is directed rightly or wrongly, as +the case may be, will prove either a benignant ruler or a cruel +despot. We may be its willing subject on the one hand, or its +servile slave on the other. It may help us on the road to good, +or it may hurry us on the road to ruin. + +Habit is formed by careful training. And it is astonishing how +much can be accomplished by systematic discipline and drill. See +how, for instance, out of the most unpromising materials--such as +roughs picked up in the streets, or raw unkempt country lads taken +from the plough--steady discipline and drill will bring out the +unsuspected qualities of courage, endurance, and self-sacrifice; +and how, in the field of battle, or even on the more trying +occasions of perils by sea--such as the burning of the SARAH +SANDS or the wreck of the BIRKENHEAD--such men, carefully +disciplined, will exhibit the unmistakable characteristics of true +bravery and heroism! + +Nor is moral discipline and drill less influential in the +formation of character. Without it, there will be no proper +system and order in the regulation of the life. Upon it depends +the cultivation of the sense of self-respect, the education of the +habit of obedience, the development of the idea of duty. The most +self-reliant, self-governing man is always under discipline: and +the more perfect the discipline, the higher will be his moral +condition. He has to drill his desires, and keep them in +subjection to the higher powers of his nature. They must obey the +word of command of the internal monitor, the conscience-- +otherwise they will be but the mere slaves of their inclinations, +the sport of feeling and impulse. + +"In the supremacy of self-control," says Herbert Spencer, +"consists one of the perfections of the ideal man. Not to be +impulsive--not to be spurred hither and thither by each desire +that in turn comes uppermost--but to be self-restrained, self- +balanced, governed by the joint decision of the feelings in +council assembled, before whom every action shall have been fully +debated and calmly determined--that it is which education, moral +education at least, strives to produce." (1) + +The first seminary of moral discipline, and the best, as we have +already shown, is the home; next comes the school, and after that +the world, the great school of practical life. Each is +preparatory to the other, and what the man or woman becomes, +depends for the most part upon what has gone before. If they have +enjoyed the advantage of neither the home nor the school, but +have been allowed to grow up untrained, untaught, and +undisciplined, then woe to themselves--woe to the society +of which they form part! + +The best-regulated home is always that in which the discipline is +the most perfect, and yet where it is the least felt. Moral +discipline acts with the force of a law of nature. Those subject +to it yield themselves to it unconsciously; and though it shapes +and forms the whole character, until the life becomes crystallized +in habit, the influence thus exercised is for the most part unseen +and almost unfelt. + +The importance of strict domestic discipline is curiously +illustrated by a fact mentioned in Mrs. Schimmelpenninck's +Memoirs, to the following effect: that a lady who, with her +husband, had inspected most of the lunatic asylums of England and +the Continent, found the most numerous class of patients was +almost always composed of those who had been only children, and +whose wills had therefore rarely been thwarted or disciplined in +early life; whilst those who were members of large families, and +who had been trained in self-discipline, were far less frequent +victims to the malady. + +Although the moral character depends in a great degree on +temperament and on physical health, as well as on domestic and +early training and the example of companions, it is also in the +power of each individual to regulate, to restrain, and to +discipline it by watchful and persevering self-control. A +competent teacher has said of the propensities and habits, that +they are as teachable as Latin and Greek, while they are much more +essential to happiness. + +Dr. Johnson, though himself constitutionally prone to melancholy, +and afflicted by it as few have been from his earliest years, said +that "a man's being in a good or bad humour very much depends upon +his will." We may train ourselves in a habit of patience and +contentment on the one hand, or of grumbling and discontent on the +other. We may accustom ourselves to exaggerate small evils, and +to underestimate great blessings. We may even become the victim +of petty miseries by giving way to them. Thus, we may educate +ourselves in a happy disposition, as well as in a morbid one. +Indeed, the habit of viewing things cheerfully, and of thinking +about life hopefully, may be made to grow up in us like any other +habit. (2) It was not an exaggerated estimate of Dr. Johnson to +say, that the habit of looking at the best side of any event is +worth far more than a thousand pounds a year. + +Th religious man's life is pervaded by rigid self-discipline and +self-restraint. He is to be sober and vigilant, to eschew evil +and do good, to walk in the spirit, to be obedient unto death, to +withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand; to +wrestle against spiritual wickedness, and against the rulers of +the darkness of this world; to be rooted and built up in faith, +and not to be weary of well-doing; for in due season he shall +reap, if he faint not. + +The man of business also must needs be subject to strict rule and +system. Business, like life, is managed by moral leverage; +success in both depending in no small degree upon that regulation +of temper and careful self-discipline, which give a wise man not +only a command over himself, but over others. Forbearance and +self-control smooth the road of life, and open many ways which +would otherwise remain closed. And so does self-respect: for as +men respect themselves, so will they usually respect the +personality of others. + +It is the same in politics as in business. Success in that sphere +of life is achieved less by talent than by temper, less by genius +than by character. If a man have not self-control, he will lack +patience, be wanting in tact, and have neither the power of +governing himself nor of managing others. When the quality most +needed in a Prime Minister was the subject of conversation in the +presence of Mr. Pitt, one of the speakers said it was "Eloquence;" +another said it was "Knowledge;" and a third said it was "Toil," +"No," said Pitt, "it is Patience!" And patience means self- +control, a quality in which he himself was superb. His friend +George Rose has said of him that he never once saw Pitt out of +temper. (3) Yet, although patience is usually regarded as a +"slow" virtue, Pitt combined with it the most extraordinary +readiness, vigour, and rapidity of thought as well as action. + +It is by patience and self-control that the truly heroic character +is perfected. These were among the most prominent characteristics +of the great Hampden, whose noble qualities were generously +acknowledged even by his political enemies. Thus Clarendon +described him as a man of rare temper and modesty, naturally +cheerful and vivacious, and above all, of a flowing courtesy. He +was kind and intrepid, yet gentle, of unblameable conversation, +and his heart glowed with love to all men. He was not a man of +many words, but, being of unimpeachable character, every word he +uttered carried weight. "No man had ever a greater power over +himself.... He was very temperate in diet, and a supreme governor +over all his passions and affections; and he had thereby great +power over other men's." Sir Philip Warwick, another of his +political opponents, incidentally describes his great influence in +a certain debate: "We had catched at each other's locks, and +sheathed our swords in each other's bowels, had not the sagacity +and great calmness of Mr. Hampden, by a short speech, prevented +it, and led us to defer our angry debate until the next morning." + +A strong temper is not necessarily a bad temper. But the stronger +the temper, the greater is the need of self-discipline and self- +control. Dr. Johnson says men grow better as they grow older, and +improve with experience; but this depends upon the width, and +depth, and generousness of their nature. It is not men's faults +that ruin them so much as the manner in which they conduct +themselves after the faults have been committed. The wise will +profit by the suffering they cause, and eschew them for the +future; but there are those on whom experience exerts no ripening +influence, and who only grow narrower and bitterer and more +vicious with time. + +What is called strong temper in a young man, often indicates a +large amount of unripe energy, which will expend itself in useful +work if the road be fairly opened to it. It is said of Stephen +Gerard, a Frenchman, who pursued a remarkably successful career in +the United States, that when he heard of a clerk with a strong +temper, he would readily take him into his employment, and set him +to work in a room by himself; Gerard being of opinion that such +persons were the best workers, and that their energy would expend +itself in work if removed from the temptation to quarrel. + +Strong temper may only mean a strong and excitable will. +Uncontrolled, it displays itself in fitful outbreaks of passion; +but controlled and held in subjection--like steam pent-up within +the organised mechanism of a steam-engine, the use of which is +regulated and controlled by slide-valves and governors and levers +--it may become a source of energetic power and usefulness. +Hence, some of the greatest characters in history have been men of +strong temper, but of equally strong determination to hold their +motive power under strict regulation and control. + +The famous Earl of Strafford was of an extremely choleric and +passionate nature, and had great struggles with himself in his +endeavours to control his temper. Referring to the advice of one +of his friends, old Secretary Cooke, who was honest enough to tell +him of his weakness, and to caution him against indulging it, he +wrote: "You gave me a good lesson to be patient; and, indeed, my +years and natural inclinations give me heat more than enough, +which, however, I trust more experience shall cool, and a watch +over myself in time altogether overcome; in the meantime, in this +at least it will set forth itself more pardonable, because my +earnestness shall ever be for the honour, justice, and profit of +my master; and it is not always anger, but the misapplying of it, +that is the vice so blameable, and of disadvantage to those that +let themselves loose there-unto." (4) + +Cromwell, also, is described as having been of a wayward and +violent temper in his youth--cross, untractable, and masterless-- +with a vast quantity of youthful energy, which exploded in a +variety of youthful mischiefs. He even obtained the reputation of +a roysterer in his native town, and seemed to be rapidly going to +the bad, when religion, in one of its most rigid forms, laid hold +upon his strong nature, and subjected it to the iron discipline of +Calvinism. An entirely new direction was thus given to his energy +of temperament, which forced an outlet for itself into public +life, and eventually became the dominating influence in England +for a period of nearly twenty years. + +The heroic princes of the House of Nassau were all distinguished +for the same qualities of self-control, self-denial, and +determination of purpose. William the Silent was so called, not +because he was a taciturn man--for he was an eloquent and +powerful speaker where eloquence was necessary--but because he +was a man who could hold his tongue when it was wisdom not to +speak, and because he carefully kept his own counsel when to have +revealed it might have been dangerous to the liberties of his +country. He was so gentle and conciliatory in his manner that his +enemies even described him as timid and pusillanimous. Yet, when +the time for action came, his courage was heroic, his +determination unconquerable. "The rock in the ocean," says +Mr. Motley, the historian of the Netherlands, "tranquil amid +raging billows, was the favourite emblem by which his friends +expressed their sense of his firmness." + +Mr. Motley compares William the Silent to Washington, whom he in +many respects resembled. The American, like the Dutch patriot, +stands out in history as the very impersonation of dignity, +bravery, purity, and personal excellence. His command over his +feelings, even in moments of great difficulty and danger, was such +as to convey the impression, to those who did not know him +intimately, that he was a man of inborn calmness and almost +impassiveness of disposition. Yet Washington was by nature ardent +and impetuous; his mildness, gentleness, politeness, and +consideration for others, were the result of rigid self-control +and unwearied self-discipline, which he diligently practised even +from his boyhood. His biographer says of him, that "his +temperament was ardent, his passions strong, and amidst the +multiplied scenes of temptation and excitement through which he +passed, it was his constant effort, and ultimate triumph, to check +the one and subdue the other." And again: "His passions were +strong, and sometimes they broke out with vehemence, but he had +the power of checking them in an instant. Perhaps self-control +was the most remarkable trait of his character. It was in part +the effect of discipline; yet he seems by nature to have possessed +this power in a degree which has been denied to other men. (*5) + +The Duke of Wellington's natural temper, like that of Napoleon, +was irritable in the extreme; and it was only by watchful self- +control that he was enabled to restrain it. He studied calmness +and coolness in the midst of danger, like any Indian chief. At +Waterloo, and elsewhere, he gave his orders in the most critical +moments, without the slightest excitement, and in a tone of voice +almost more than usually subdued. (6) + +Wordsworth the poet was, in his childhood, "of a stiff, moody, and +violent temper," and "perverse and obstinate in defying +chastisement." When experience of life had disciplined his +temper, he learnt to exercise greater self-control; but, at the +same time, the qualities which distinguished him as a child were +afterwards useful in enabling him to defy the criticism of his +enemies. Nothing was more marked than Wordsworth's self-respect +and self-determination, as well as his self-consciousness of +power, at all periods of his history. + +Henry Martyn, the missionary, was another instance of a man in +whom strength of temper was only so much pent-up, unripe energy. +As a boy he was impatient, petulant, and perverse; but by constant +wrestling against his tendency to wrongheadedness, he gradually +gained the requisite strength, so as to entirely overcome it, and +to acquire what he so greatly coveted--the gift of patience. + +A man may be feeble in organization, but, blessed with a happy +temperament, his soul may be great, active, noble, and sovereign. +Professor Tyndall has given us a fine picture of the character of +Faraday, and of his self-denying labours in the cause of science-- +exhibiting him as a man of strong, original, and even fiery +nature, and yet of extreme tenderness and sensibility. +"Underneath his sweetness and gentleness," he says, "was the heat +of a volcano. He was a man of excitable and fiery nature; but, +through high self-discipline, he had converted the fire into a +central glow and motive power of life, instead of permitting it to +waste itself in useless passion." + +There was one fine feature in Faraday's character which is worthy +of notice--one closely akin to self-control: it was his self- +denial. By devoting himself to analytical chemistry, he might +have speedily realised a large fortune; but he nobly resisted the +temptation, and preferred to follow the path of pure science. +"Taking the duration of his life into account," says Mr. Tyndall, +"this son of a blacksmith and apprentice to a bookbinder had to +decide between a fortune of œ150,000 on the one side, and his +undowered science on the other. He chose the latter, and +died a poor man. But his was the glory of holding aloft +among the nations the scientific name of England for a +period of forty years." (7) + +Take a like instance of the self-denial of a Frenchman. The +historian Anquetil was one of the small number of literary men in +France who refused to bow to the Napoleonic yoke. He sank into +great poverty, living on bread-and-milk, and limiting his +expenditure to only three sous a day. "I have still two sous a +day left," said he, "for the conqueror of Marengo and Austerlitz." +"But if you fall sick," said a friend to him, "you will need the +help of a pension. Why not do as others do? Pay court to the +Emperor--you have need of him to live." "I do not need him to +die," was the historian's reply. But Anquetil did not die of +poverty; he lived to the age of ninety-four, saying to a friend, +on the eve of his death, "Come, see a man who dies still full of +life!" + +Sir James Outram exhibited the same characteristic of noble self- +denial, though in an altogether different sphere of life. Like +the great King Arthur, he was emphatically a man who "forbore his +own advantage." He was characterised throughout his whole career +by his noble unselfishness. Though he might personally disapprove +of the policy he was occasionally ordered to carry out, he never +once faltered in the path of duty. Thus he did not approve of the +policy of invading Scinde; yet his services throughout the +campaign were acknowledged by General Sir C. Napier to have been +of the most brilliant character. But when the war was over, and +the rich spoils of Scinde lay at the conqueror's feet, Outram +said: "I disapprove of the policy of this war--I will accept no +share of the prize-money!" + +Not less marked was his generous self-denial when despatched with +a strong force to aid Havelock in fighting his way to Lucknow. As +superior officer, he was entitled to take upon himself the chief +command; but, recognising what Havelock had already done, with +rare disinterestedness, he left to his junior officer the glory of +completing the campaign, offering to serve under him as a +volunteer. "With such reputation," said Lord Clyde, "as Major- +General Outram has won for himself, he can afford to share glory +and honour with others. But that does not lessen the value of the +sacrifice he has made with such disinterested generosity." + +If a man would get through life honourably and peaceably, he must +necessarily learn to practise self-denial in small things as well +as great. Men have to bear as well as forbear. The temper has to +be held in subjection to the judgment; and the little demons of +ill-humour, petulance, and sarcasm, kept resolutely at a distance. +If once they find an entrance to the mind, they are very apt +to return, and to establish for themselves a permanent +occupation there. + +It is necessary to one's personal happiness, to exercise control +over one's words as well as acts: for there are words that strike +even harder than blows; and men may "speak daggers," though they +use none. "UN COUP DE LANGUE," says the French proverb, "EST PIRE +QU'UN COUP DE LANCE." The stinging repartee that rises to the +lips, and which, if uttered, might cover an adversary with +confusion, how difficult it sometimes is to resist saying it! +"Heaven keep us," says Miss Bremer in her 'Home,' "from the +destroying power of words! There are words which sever hearts +more than sharp swords do; there are words the point of which +sting the heart through the course of a whole life." + +Thus character exhibits itself in self-control of speech as much +as in anything else. The wise and forbearant man will restrain +his desire to say a smart or severe thing at the expense of +another's feelings; while the fool blurts out what he thinks, and +will sacrifice his friend rather than his joke. "The mouth of a +wise man," said Solomon, "is in his heart; the heart of a fool is +in his mouth." + +There are, however, men who are no fools, that are headlong in +their language as in their acts, because of their want of +forbearance and self-restraining patience. The impulsive genius, +gifted with quick thought and incisive speech--perhaps carried +away by the cheers of the moment--lets fly a sarcastic sentence +which may return upon him to his own infinite damage. Even +statesmen might be named, who have failed through their inability +to resist the temptation of saying clever and spiteful things at +their adversary's expense. "The turn of a sentence," says +Bentham, "has decided the fate of many a friendship, and, for +aught that we know, the fate of many a kingdom." So, when one is +tempted to write a clever but harsh thing, though it may be +difficult to restrain it, it is always better to leave it in the +inkstand. "A goose's quill," says the Spanish proverb, "often +hurts more than a lion's claw." + +Carlyle says, when speaking of Oliver Cromwell, "He that cannot +withal keep his mind to himself, cannot practise any considerable +thing whatsoever." It was said of William the Silent, by one of +his greatest enemies, that an arrogant or indiscreet word was +never known to fall from his lips. Like him, Washington was +discretion itself in the use of speech, never taking advantage of +an opponent, or seeking a shortlived triumph in a debate. And it +is said that in the long run, the world comes round to and +supports the wise man who knows when and how to be silent. + +We have heard men of great experience say that they have often +regretted having spoken, but never once regretted holding their +tongue. "Be silent," says Pythagoras, "or say something better +than silence." "Speak fitly," says George Herbert, "or be silent +wisely." St. Francis de Sales, whom Leigh Hunt styled "the +Gentleman Saint," has said: "It is better to remain silent than to +speak the truth ill-humouredly, and so spoil an excellent dish by +covering it with bad sauce." Another Frenchman, Lacordaire, +characteristically puts speech first, and silence next. "After +speech," he says, "silence is the greatest power in the world." +Yet a word spoken in season, how powerful it may be! As the +old Welsh proverb has it, "A golden tongue is in the mouth +of the blessed." + +It is related, as a remarkable instance of self-control on the +part of De Leon, a distinguished Spanish poet of the sixteenth +century, who lay for years in the dungeons of the Inquisition +without light or society, because of his having translated a part +of the Scriptures into his native tongue, that on being liberated +and restored to his professorship, an immense crowd attended his +first lecture, expecting some account of his long imprisonment; +but Do Leon was too wise and too gentle to indulge in +recrimination. He merely resumed the lecture which, five years +before, had been so sadly interrupted, with the accustomed formula +"HERI DICEBAMUS," and went directly into his subject. + +There are, of course, times and occasions when the expression of +indignation is not only justifiable but necessary. We are bound +to be indignant at falsehood, selfishness, and cruelty. A man of +true feeling fires up naturally at baseness or meanness of any +sort, even in cases where he may be under no obligation to speak +out. "I would have nothing to do," said Perthes, "with the man +who cannot be moved to indignation. There are more good people +than bad in the world, and the bad get the upper hand merely +because they are bolder. We cannot help being pleased with a man +who uses his powers with decision; and we often take his side for +no other reason than because he does so use them. No doubt, I +have often repented speaking; but not less often have I repented +keeping silence." (8) + +One who loves right cannot be indifferent to wrong, or wrongdoing. +If he feels warmly, he will speak warmly, out of the fulness of +his heart. As a noble lady (9) has written: + + "A noble heart doth teach a virtuous scorn-- + To scorn to owe a duty overlong, + To scorn to be for benefits forborne, + To scorn to lie, to scorn to do a wrong, + To scorn to bear an injury in mind, + To scorn a freeborn heart slave-like to bind." + +We have, however, to be on our guard against impatient scorn. The +best people are apt to have their impatient side; and often, the +very temper which makes men earnest, makes them also intolerant. +(10) "Of all mental gifts," says Miss Julia Wedgwood, "the rarest +is intellectual patience; and the last lesson of culture is to +believe in difficulties which are invisible to ourselves." + +The best corrective of intolerance in disposition, is increase of +wisdom and enlarged experience of life. Cultivated good sense +will usually save men from the entanglements in which moral +impatience is apt to involve them; good sense consisting chiefly +in that temper of mind which enables its possessor to deal with +the practical affairs of life with justice, judgment, discretion, +and charity. Hence men of culture and experience are invariably, +found the most forbearant and tolerant, as ignorant and +narrowminded persons are found the most unforgiving and +intolerant. Men of large and generous natures, in proportion to +their practical wisdom, are disposed to make allowance for the +defects and disadvantages of others--allowance for the +controlling power of circumstances in the formation of character, +and the limited power of resistance of weak and fallible natures +to temptation and error. "I see no fault committed," said Goethe, +"which I also might not have committed." So a wise and good man +exclaimed, when he saw a criminal drawn on his hurdle to Tyburn: +"There goes Jonathan Bradford--but for the grace of God!" + +Life will always be, to a great extent, what we ourselves make it. +The cheerful man makes a cheerful world, the gloomy man a gloomy +one. We usually find but our own temperament reflected in the +dispositions of those about us. If we are ourselves querulous, we +will find them so; if we are unforgiving and uncharitable to them, +they will be the same to us. A person returning from an evening +party not long ago, complained to a policeman on his beat that an +ill-looking fellow was following him: it turned out to be only his +own shadow! And such usually is human life to each of us; it is, +for the most part, but the reflection of ourselves. + +If we would be at peace with others, and ensure their respect, we +must have regard for their personality. Every man has his +peculiarities of manner and character, as he has peculiarities of +form and feature; and we must have forbearance in dealing with +them, as we expect them to have forbearance in dealing with us. +We may not be conscious of our own peculiarities, yet they exist +nevertheless. There is a village in South America where gotos or +goitres are so common that to be without one is regarded as a +deformity. One day a party of Englishmen passed through the +place, when quite a crowd collected to jeer them, shouting: "See, +see these people--they have got NO GOTOS!" + +Many persons give themselves a great deal of fidget concerning +what other people think of them and their peculiarities. Some are +too much disposed to take the illnatured side, and, judging by +themselves, infer the worst. But it is very often the case that +the uncharitableness of others, where it really exists, is but the +reflection of our own want of charity and want of temper. It +still oftener happens, that the worry we subject ourselves to, has +its source in our own imagination. And even though those about us +may think of us uncharitably, we shall not mend matters by +exasperating ourselves against them. We may thereby only expose +ourselves unnecessarily to their illnature or caprice. "The ill +that comes out of our mouth," says Herbert, "ofttimes falls +into our bosom." + +The great and good philosopher Faraday communicated the following +piece of admirable advice, full of practical wisdom, the result of +a rich experience of life, in a letter to his friend Professor +Tyndall:- "Let me, as an old man, who ought by this time to have +profited by experience, say that when I was younger I found I +often misrepresented the intentions of people, and that they did +not mean what at the time I supposed they meant; and further, +that, as a general rule, it was better to be a little dull of +apprehension where phrases seemed to imply pique, and quick in +perception when, on the contrary, they seemed to imply kindly +feeling. The real truth never fails ultimately to appear; and +opposing parties, if wrong, are sooner convinced when replied to +forbearingly, than when overwhelmed. All I mean to say is, that +it is better to be blind to the results of partisanship, and quick +to see goodwill. One has more happiness in one's self in +endeavouring to follow the things that make for peace. You can +hardly imagine how often I have been heated in private when +opposed, as I have thought unjustly and superciliously, and yet I +have striven, and succeeded, I hope, in keeping down replies of +the like kind. And I know I have never lost by it." (11) + +While the painter Barry was at Rome, he involved himself, as was +his wont, in furious quarrels with the artists and dilettanti, +about picture-painting and picture-dealing, upon which his friend +and countryman, Edmund Burke--always the generous friend of +struggling merit--wrote to him kindly and sensibly: "Believe me, +dear Barry, that the arms with which the ill-dispositions of the +world are to be combated, and the qualities by which it is to be +reconciled to us, and we reconciled to it, are moderation, +gentleness, a little indulgence to others, and a great deal of +distrust of ourselves; which are not qualities of a mean spirit, +as some may possibly think them, but virtues of a great and noble +kind, and such as dignify our nature as much as they contribute to +our repose and fortune; for nothing can be so unworthy of a well- +composed soul as to pass away life in bickerings and litigations-- +in snarling and scuffling with every one about us. We must be at +peace with our species, if not for their sakes, at least very much +for our own." (12) + +No one knew the value of self-control better than the poet Burns, +and no one could teach it more eloquently to others; but when it +came to practice, Burns was as weak as the weakest. He could not +deny himself the pleasure of uttering a harsh and clever sarcasm +at another's expense. One of his biographers observes of him, +that it was no extravagant arithmetic to say that for every ten +jokes he made himself a hundred enemies. But this was not all. +Poor Burns exercised no control over his appetites, but freely +gave them rein: + + "Thus thoughtless follies laid him low + And stained his name." + +Nor had he the self-denial to resist giving publicity to +compositions originally intended for the delight of the tap-room, +but which continue secretly to sow pollution broadcast in the +minds of youth. Indeed, notwithstanding the many exquisite poems +of this writer, it is not saying too much to aver that his immoral +writings have done far more harm than his purer writings have done +good; and that it would be better that all his writings should be +destroyed and forgotten provided his indecent songs could be +destroyed with them. + +The remark applies alike to Beranger, who has been styled "The +Burns of France." Beranger was of the same bright incisive +genius; he had the same love of pleasure, the same love of +popularity; and while he flattered French vanity to the top of its +bent, he also painted the vices most loved by his countrymen with +the pen of a master. Beranger's songs and Thiers' History +probably did more than anything else to reestablish the Napoleonic +dynasty in France. But that was a small evil compared with the +moral mischief which many of Beranger's songs are calculated to +produce; for, circulating freely as they do in French households, +they exhibit pictures of nastiness and vice, which are enough to +pollute and destroy a nation. + +One of Burns's finest poems, written, in his twenty-eighth year, +is entitled 'A Bard's Epitaph.' It is a description, by +anticipation, of his own life. Wordsworth has said of it: "Here +is a sincere and solemn avowal; a public declaration from his own +will; a confession at once devout, poetical and human; a history +in the shape of a prophecy." It concludes with these lines:- + + "Reader, attend--whether thy soul + Soars fancy's flights beyond the pole, + Or darkling grubs this earthly hole + In low pursuit; + Know--prudent, cautious self-control, + Is Wisdom's root." + +One of the vices before which Burns fell--and it may be said to +be a master-vice, because it is productive of so many other vices +--was drinking. Not that he was a drunkard, but because he +yielded to the temptations of drink, with its degrading +associations, and thereby lowered and depraved his whole nature. +(13) But poor Burns did not stand alone; for, alas! of all vices, +the unrestrained appetite for drink was in his time, as it +continues to be now, the most prevalent, popular, degrading, +and destructive. + +Were it possible to conceive the existence of a tyrant who should +compel his people to give up to him one-third or more of their +earnings, and require them at the same time to consume a commodity +that should brutalise and degrade them, destroy the peace and +comfort of their families, and sow in themselves the seeds of +disease and premature death--what indignation meetings, what +monster processions there would be! 'What eloquent speeches and +apostrophes to the spirit of liberty!--what appeals against a +despotism so monstrous and so unnatural! And yet such a tyrant +really exists amongst us--the tyrant of unrestrained appetite, +whom no force of arms, or voices, or votes can resist, while men +are willing to be his slaves. + +The power of this tyrant can only be overcome by moral means--by +self-discipline, self-respect, and self-control. There is no +other way of withstanding the despotism of appetite in any of its +forms. No reform of institutions, no extended power of voting, no +improved form of government, no amount of scholastic instruction, +can possibly elevate the character of a people who voluntarily +abandon themselves to sensual indulgence. The pursuit of ignoble +pleasure is the degradation of true happiness; it saps the morals, +destroys the energies, and degrades the manliness and robustness +of individuals as of nations. + +The courage of self-control exhibits itself in many ways, but in +none more clearly than in honest living. Men without the virtue +of self-denial are not only subject to their own selfish desires, +but they are usually in bondage to others who are likeminded with +themselves. What others do, they do. They must live according to +the artificial standard of their class, spending like their +neighbours, regardless of the consequences, at the same time that +all are, perhaps, aspiring after a style of living higher than +their means. Each carries the others along with him, and they +have not the moral courage to stop. They cannot resist the +temptation of living high, though it may be at the expense of +others; and they gradually become reckless of debt, until it +enthrals them. In all this there is great moral cowardice, +pusillanimity, and want of manly independence of character. + +A rightminded man will shrink from seeming to be what he is not, +or pretending to be richer than he really is, or assuming a style +of living that his circumstances will not justify. He will have +the courage to live honestly within his own means, rather than +dishonestly upon the means of other people; for he who incurs +debts in striving to maintain a style of living beyond his income, +is in spirit as dishonest as the man who openly picks your pocket. + +To many, this may seem an extreme view, but it will bear the +strictest test. Living at the cost of others is not only +dishonesty, but it is untruthfulness in deed, as lying is in word. +The proverb of George Herbert, that "debtors are liars," is +justified by experience. Shaftesbury somewhere says that a +restlessness to have something which we have not, and to be +something which we are not, is the root of all immorality. (14) No +reliance is to be placed on the saying--a very dangerous one--of +Mirabeau, that "LA PETITE MORALE ETAIT L'ENNEMIE DE LA GRANDE." +On the contrary, strict adherence to even the smallest details of +morality is the foundation of all manly and noble character. + +The honourable man is frugal of his means, and pays his way +honestly. He does not seek to pass himself off as richer than he +is, or, by running into debt, open an account with ruin. As that +man is not poor whose means are small, but whose desires are +uncontrolled, so that man is rich whose means are more than +sufficient for his wants. When Socrates saw a great quantity of +riches, jewels, and furniture of great value, carried in pomp +through Athens, he said, "Now do I see how many things I do NOT +desire." "I can forgive everything but selfishness," said +Perthes. "Even the narrowest circumstances admit of greatness +with reference to 'mine and thine'; and none but the very poorest +need fill their daily life with thoughts of money, if they have +but prudence to arrange their housekeeping within the limits +of their income." + +A man may be indifferent to money because of higher +considerations, as Faraday was, who sacrificed wealth to pursue +science; but if he would have the enjoyments that money can +purchase, he must honestly earn it, and not live upon the earnings +of others, as those do who habitually incur debts which they have +no means of paying. When Maginn, always drowned in debt, was +asked what he paid for his wine, he replied that he did not know, +but he believed they "put something down in a book." (15) + +This "putting-down in a book" has proved the ruin of a great many +weakminded people, who cannot resist the temptation of taking +things upon credit which they have not the present means of paying +for; and it would probably prove of great social benefit if the +law which enables creditors to recover debts contracted under +certain circumstances were altogether abolished. But, in the +competition for trade, every encouragement is given to the +incurring of debt, the creditor relying upon the law to aid him in +the last extremity. When Sydney Smith once went into a new +neighbourhood, it was given out in the local papers that he was a +man of high connections, and he was besought on all sides for his +"custom." But he speedily undeceived his new neighbours. "We are +not great people at all," he said: "we are only common honest +people--people that pay our debts." + +Hazlitt, who was a thoroughly honest though rather thriftless man, +speaks of two classes of persons, not unlike each other--those +who cannot keep their own money in their hands, and those who +cannot keep their hands from other people's. The former are +always in want of money, for they throw it away on any object that +first presents itself, as if to get rid of it; the latter make +away with what they have of their own, and are perpetual borrowers +from all who will lend to them; and their genius for borrowing, in +the long run, usually proves their ruin. + +Sheridan was one of such eminent unfortunates. He was impulsive +and careless in his expenditure, borrowing money, and running into +debt with everybody who would trust him. When he stood for +Westminster, his unpopularity arose chiefly from his general +indebtedness. "Numbers of poor people," says Lord Palmerston in +one of his letters, "crowded round the hustings, demanding payment +for the bills he owed them." In the midst of all his +difficulties, Sheridan was as lighthearted as ever, and cracked +many a good joke at his creditors' expense. Lord Palmerston was +actually present at the dinner given by him, at which the +sheriff's in possession were dressed up and officiated as waiters + +Yet however loose Sheridan's morality may have been as regarded +his private creditors, he was honest(so far as the public money +was concerned. Once, at dinner, at which Lord Byron happened to +be present, an observation happened to be made as to the +sturdiness of the Whigs in resisting office, and keeping to their +principles--on which Sheridan turned sharply and said: "Sir, it +is easy for my Lord this, or Earl that, or the Marquis of t'other, +with thousands upon thousands a year, some of it either presently +derived or inherited in sinecure or acquisitions from the public +money, to boast of their patriotism, and keep aloof from +temptation; but they do not know from what temptation those have +kept aloof who had equal pride, at least equal talents, and not +unequal passions, and nevertheless knew not, in the course of +their lives, what it was to have a shilling of their own." And +Lord Byron adds, that, in saying this, Sheridan wept. (16) + +The tone of public morality in money-matters was very low in those +days. Political peculation was not thought discreditable; and +heads of parties did not hesitate to secure the adhesion of their +followers by a free use of the public money. They were generous, +but at the expense of others--like that great local magnate, who, + + "Out of his great bounty, + Built a bridge at the expense of the county." + +When Lord Cornwallis was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, he +pressed upon Colonel Napier, the father of THE Napiers, the +comptrollership of army accounts. "I want," said his Lordship, +"AN HONEST MAN, and this is the only thing I have been able to +wrest from the harpies around me." + +It is said that Lord Chatham was the first to set the example of +disdaining to govern by petty larceny; and his great son was alike +honest in his administration. While millions of money were +passing through Pitt's hands, he himself was never otherwise than +poor; and he died poor. Of all his rancorous libellers, not one +ever ventured to call in question his honesty. + +In former times, the profits of office were sometimes enormous. +When Audley, the famous annuity-monger of the sixteenth century, +was asked the value of an office which he had purchased in the +Court of Wards, he replied:- "Some thousands to any one who wishes +to get to heaven immediately; twice as much to him who does not +mind being in purgatory; and nobody knows what to him who is not +afraid of the devil." + +Sir Walter Scott was a man who was honest to the core of his +nature and his strenuous and determined efforts to pay his debts, +or rather the debts of the firm with which he had become involved, +has always appeared to us one of the grandest things in biography. +When his publisher and printer broke down, ruin seemed to stare +him in the face. There was no want of sympathy for him in his +great misfortune, and friends came forward who offered to raise +money enough to enable him to arrange with his creditors. "No! +"said he, proudly; "this right hand shall work it all off!" "If +we lose everything else," he wrote to a friend, "we will at least +keep our honour unblemished." (17) While his health was already +becoming undermined by overwork, he went on "writing like a +tiger," as he himself expressed it, until no longer able to wield +a pen; and though he paid the penalty of his supreme efforts with +his life, he nevertheless saved his honour and his self-respect. + +Everybody knows bow Scott threw off 'Woodstock,' the 'Life of +Napoleon' (which he thought would be his death (18)), articles for +the 'Quarterly,' 'Chronicles of the Canongate,' 'Prose +Miscellanies,' and 'Tales of a Grandfather'--all written in the +midst of pain, sorrow, and ruin. The proceeds of those various +works went to his creditors. "I could not have slept sound," he +wrote, "as I now can, under the comfortable impression of +receiving the thanks of my creditors, and the conscious feeling of +discharging my duty as a man of honour and honesty. I see before +me a long, tedious, and dark path, but it leads to stainless +reputation. If I die in the harrows, as is very likely, I shall +die with honour. If I achieve my task, I shall have the thanks of +all concerned, and the approbation of my own conscience." (19) + +And then followed more articles, memoirs, and even sermons--'The +Fair Maid of Perth,' a completely revised edition of his novels, +'Anne of Geierstein,' and more 'Tales of a Grandfather'--until he +was suddenly struck down by paralysis. But he had no sooner +recovered sufficient strength to be able to hold a pen, than we +find him again at his desk writing the 'Letters on Demonology and +Witchcraft,' a volume of Scottish History for 'Lardner's +Cyclopaedia,' and a fourth series of 'Tales of a Grandfather' in +his French History. In vain his doctors told him to give up work; +he would not be dissuaded. "As for bidding me not work," he said +to Dr. Abercrombie, "Molly might just as well put the kettle on +the fire and say, 'Now, kettle, don't boil;'" to which he added, +"If I were to be idle I should go mad!" + +By means of the profits realised by these tremendous efforts, +Scott saw his debts in course of rapid diminution, and he trusted +that, after a few more years' work, he would again be a free man. +But it was not to be. He went on turning out such works as his +'Count Robert of Paris' with greatly impaired skill, until he was +prostrated by another and severer attack of palsy. He now felt +that the plough was nearing the end of the furrow; his physical +strength was gone; he was "not quite himself in all things," and +yet his courage and perseverance never failed. "I have suffered +terribly," he wrote in his Diary, "though rather in body than in +mind, and I often wish I could lie down and sleep without waking. +But I WILL FIGHT IT OUT IF I CAN." He again recovered +sufficiently to be able to write 'Castle Dangerous,' though the +cunning of the workman's hand had departed. And then there was +his last tour to Italy in search of rest and health, during which, +while at Naples, in spite of all remonstrances, he gave several +hours every morning to the composition of a new novel, which, +however, has not seen the light. + +Scott returned to Abbotsford to die. "I have seen much," he said +on his return, "but nothing like my own house--give me one turn +more." One of the last things he uttered, in one of his lucid +intervals, was worthy of him. "I have been," he said, "perhaps +the most voluminous author of my day, and it IS a comfort to me to +think that I have tried to unsettle no man's faith, to corrupt no +man's principles, and that I have written nothing which on my +deathbed I should wish blotted out." His last injunction to his +son-in-law was: "Lockhart, I may have but a minute to speak to +you. My dear, be virtuous--be religious--be a good man. +Nothing else will give you any comfort when you come to lie here." + +The devoted conduct of Lockhart himself was worthy of his great +relative. The 'Life of Scott,' which he afterwards wrote, +occupied him several years, and was a remarkably successful work. +Yet he himself derived no pecuniary advantage from it; handing +over the profits of the whole undertaking to Sir Walter's +creditors in payment of debts which he was in no way responsible, +but influenced entirely by a spirit of honour, of regard for the +memory of the illustrious dead. + + + +NOTES + +(1) 'Social Statics,' p. 185. + +(2) "In all cases," says Jeremy Bentham, "when the power of the will +can be exercised over the thoughts, let those thoughts be directed +towards happiness. Look out for the bright, for the brightest +side of things, and keep your face constantly turned to it.... A +large part of existence is necessarily passed in inaction. By day +(to take an instance from the thousand in constant recurrence), +when in attendance on others, and time is lost by being kept +waiting; by night when sleep is unwilling to close the eyelids, +the economy of happiness recommends the occupation of pleasurable +thought. In walking abroad, or in resting at home, the mind +cannot be vacant; its thoughts may be useful, useless, or +pernicious to happiness. Direct them aright; the habit of happy +thought will spring up like any other habit." +DEONTOLOGY, ii. 105-6. + +(3) The following extract from a letter of M. Boyd, Esq., is given by +Earl Stanhope in his 'Miscellanies':- "There was a circumstance +told me by the late Mr. Christmas, who for many years held an +important official situation in the Bank of England. He was, I +believe, in early life a clerk in the Treasury, or one of the +government offices, and for some time acted for Mr. Pitt as his +confidential clerk, or temporary private secretary. Christmas was +one of the most obliging men I ever knew; and, from the, position +he occupied, was constantly exposed to interruptions, yet I never +saw his temper in the least ruffled. One day I found him more +than usually engaged, having a mass of accounts to prepare for one +of the law-courts--still the same equanimity, and I could not +resist the opportunity of asking the old gentleman the secret. +'Well, Mr. Boyd, you shall know it. Mr. Pitt gave it to me:-- +NOT TO LOSE MY TEMPER, IF POSSIBLE, AT ANY TIME, AND NEVER +DURING THE HOURS OF BUSINESS. My labours here (Bank of England) +commence at nine and end at three; and, acting on the advice +of the illustrious statesman, I NEVER LOSE MY TEMPER DURING +THOSE HOURS.'" + +(4) 'Strafford Papers,' i. 87. + +(5) Jared Sparks' 'Life of Washington,' pp. 7, 534. + +(6) Brialmont's 'Life of Wellington.' + +(7) Professor Tyndall, on 'Faraday as a Discoverer,' p. 156. + +(8) 'Life of Perthes,' ii. 216. + +(9) Lady Elizabeth Carew. + +(10) Francis Horner, in one of his letters, says: "It is among the very +sincere and zealous friends of liberty that you will find the most +perfect specimens of wrongheadedness; men of a dissenting, +provincial cast of virtue--who (according to one of Sharpe's +favourite phrases) WILL drive a wedge the broad end foremost +--utter strangers to all moderation in political business." + --Francis Horner's LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE (1843), ii. 133. + +(11) Professor Tyndall on 'Faraday as a Discoverer,' pp. 40-1. + +(12) Yet Burke himself; though capable of giving Barry such excellent +advice, was by no means immaculate as regarded his own temper. +When he lay ill at Beaconsfield, Fox, from whom he had become +separated by political differences arising out of the French +Revolution, went down to see his old friend. But Burke would not +grant him an interview; he positively refused to see him. On his +return to town, Fox told his friend Coke the result of his +journey; and when Coke lamented Burke's obstinacy, Fox only +replied, goodnaturedly: "Ah! never mind, Tom; I always find every +Irishman has got a piece of potato in his head." Yet Fox, with +his usual generosity, when he heard of Burke's impending death, +wrote a most kind and cordial letter to Mrs. Burke, expressive of +his grief and sympathy; and when Burke was no more, Fox was the +first to propose that he should be interred with public honours in +Westminster Abbey--which only Burke's own express wish, that he +should be buried at Beaconsfield, prevented being carried out. + +(13) When Curran, the Irish barrister, visited Burns's cabin in 1810, +he found it converted into a public house, and the landlord who +showed it was drunk. "There," said he, pointing to a corner on +one side of the fire, with a most MALAPROPOS laugh-"there is the +very spot where Robert Burns was born." "The genius and the fate +of the man," says Curran, "were already heavy on my heart; but the +drunken laugh of the landlord gave me such a view of the rock on +which he had foundered, that I could not stand it, but burst +into tears." + +(14) The chaplain of Horsemongerlane Gaol, in his annual report to +the Surrey justices, thus states the result of his careful study of +the causes of dishonesty: "From my experience of predatory crime, +founded upon careful study of the character of a great variety of +prisoners, I conclude that habitual dishonesty is to be referred +neither to ignorance, nor to drunkenness, nor to poverty, nor to +overcrowding in towns, nor to temptation from surrounding wealth-- +nor, indeed, to any one of the many indirect causes to which it is +sometimes referred--but mainly TO A DISPOSITION TO ACQUIRE +PROPERTY WITH A LESS DEGREE OF LABOUR THAN ORDINARY INDUSTRY." +The italics are the author's. + +(15) S. C. Hall's 'Memories.' + +(16) Moore's 'Life of Byron,' 8vo. Ed., p. 182. + +(17) Captain Basil Hall records the following conversation with Scott:- +"It occurs to me," I observed, "that people are apt to make too +much fuss about the loss of fortune, which is one of the smallest +of the great evils of life, and ought to be among the most +tolerable."--"Do you call it a small misfortune to be ruined in +money-matters?" he asked. "It is not so painful, at all events, +as the loss of friends."--"I grant that," he said. "As the loss +of character?"--"True again." "As the loss of health?"--"Ay, +there you have me," he muttered to himself, in a tone so +melancholy that I wished I had not spoken. "What is the loss of +fortune to the loss of peace of mind?" I continued. "In short," +said he, playfully, "you will make it out that there is no harm in +a man's being plunged over-head-and-ears in a debt he cannot +remove." "Much depends, I think, on how it was incurred, and what +efforts are made to redeem it--at least, if the sufferer be a +rightminded man." "I hope it does," he said, cheerfully and +firmly.--FRAGMENTS OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, 3rd series, pp. 308-9. + +(18) "These battles," he wrote in his Diary, "have been the death of +many a man, I think they will be mine." + +(19) Scott's Diary, December 17th, 1827. + + + +CHAPTER VII.--DUTY--TRUTHFULNESS. + + + +"I slept, and dreamt that life was Beauty; +I woke, and found that life was Duty." + +"Duty! wondrous thought, that workest neither by fond insinuation, +flattery, nor by any threat, but merely by holding up thy naked +law in the soul, and so extorting for thyself always reverence, if +not always obedience; before whom all appetites are dumb, however +secretly they rebel"--KANT. + + "How happy is he born and taught, + That serveth not another's will! + Whose armour is his honest thought, + And simple truth his utmost skill! + + "Whose passions not his masters are, + Whose soul is still prepared for death; + Unti'd unto the world by care + Of public fame, or private breath. + + "This man is freed from servile bands, + Of hope to rise, or fear to fall: + Lord of himself, though not of land; + And having nothing, yet hath all."--WOTTON. + + "His nay was nay without recall; + His yea was yea, and powerful all; + He gave his yea with careful heed, + His thoughts and words were well agreed; + His word, his bond and seal." + INSCRIPTION ON BARON STEIN'S TOMB. + + +DUTY is a thing that is due, and must be paid by every man who +would avoid present discredit and eventual moral insolvency. It +is an obligation--a debt--which can only be discharged by +voluntary effort and resolute action in the affairs of life. + +Duty embraces man's whole existence. It begins in the home, where +there is the duty which children owe to their parents on the one +hand, and the duty which parents owe to their children on the +other. There are, in like manner, the respective duties of +husbands and wives, of masters and servants; while outside the +home there are the duties which men and women owe to each other as +friends and neighbours, as employers and employed, as governors +and governed. + +"Render, therefore," says St. Paul, "to all their dues: tribute to +whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; +honour to whom honour. Owe no man anything, but to love one +another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law," + +Thus duty rounds the whole of life, from our entrance into it +until our exit from it--duty to superiors, duty to inferiors, and +duty to equals--duty to man, and duty to God. Wherever there is +power to use or to direct, there is duty. For we are but as +stewards, appointed to employ the means entrusted to us for our +own and for others' good. + +The abiding sense of duty is the very crown of character. It is +the upholding law of man in his highest attitudes. Without it, +the individual totters and falls before the first puff of +adversity or temptation; whereas, inspired by it, the weakest +becomes strong and full of courage. "Duty," says Mrs. Jameson, +"is the cement which binds the whole moral edifice together; +without which, all power, goodness, intellect, truth, happiness, +love itself, can have no permanence; but all the fabric of +existence crumbles away from under us, and leaves us at last +sitting in the midst of a ruin, astonished at our own desolation." + +Duty is based upon a sense of justice--justice inspired by love, +which is the most perfect form of goodness. Duty is not a +sentiment, but a principle pervading the life: and it exhibits +itself in conduct and in acts, which are mainly determined by +man's conscience and freewill. + +The voice of conscience speaks in duty done; and without its +regulating and controlling influence, the brightest and greatest +intellect may be merely as a light that leads astray. Conscience +sets a man upon his feet, while his will holds him upright. +Conscience is the moral governor of the heart--the governor of +right action, of right thought, of right faith, of right life-- +and only through its dominating influence can the noble and +upright character be fully developed. + +The conscience, however, may speak never so loudly, but without +energetic will it may speak in vain. The will is free to choose +between the right course and the wrong one, but the choice is +nothing unless followed by immediate and decisive action. If the +sense of duty be strong, and the course of action clear, the +courageous will, upheld by the conscience, enables a man to +proceed on his course bravely, and to accomplish his purposes in +the face of all opposition and difficulty. And should failure be +the issue, there will remain at least this satisfaction, that it +has been in the cause of duty. + +"Be and continue poor, young man," said Heinzelmann," while others +around you grow rich by fraud and disloyalty; be without place or +power while others beg their way upwards; bear the pain of +disappointed hopes, while others gain the accomplishment of theirs +by flattery; forego the gracious pressure of the hand, for which +others cringe and crawl. Wrap yourself in your own virtue, and +seek a friend and your daily bread. If you have in your own cause +grown gray with unbleached honour, bless God and die!" + +Men inspired by high principles are often required to sacrifice +all that they esteem and love rather than fail in their duty. +The old English idea of this sublime devotion to duty was expressed +by the loyalist poet to his sweetheart, on taking up arms for +his sovereign:- + + "I could love thee, dear, so much, + Loved I not honour more.' (1) + +And Sertorius has said: "The man who has any dignity of character, +should conquer with honour, and not use any base means even to +save his life." So St. Paul, inspired by duty and faith, declared +himself as not only "ready to be bound, but to die at Jerusalem." + +When the Marquis of Pescara was entreated by the princes of Italy +to desert the Spanish cause, to which he was in honour bound, his +noble wife, Vittoria Colonna, reminded him of his duty. She wrote +to him: "Remember your honour, which raises you above fortune and +above kings; by that alone, and not by the splendour of titles, is +glory acquired--that glory which it will be your happiness and +pride to transmit unspotted to your posterity." Such was the +dignified view which she took of her husband's honour; and when he +fell at Pavia, though young and beautiful, and besought by many +admirers, she betook herself to solitude, that she might lament +over her husband's loss and celebrate his exploits. (2) + +To live really, is to act energetically. Life is a battle to be +fought valiantly. Inspired by high and honourable resolve, a man +must stand to his post, and die there, if need be. Like the old +Danish hero, his determination should be, "to dare nobly, to will +strongly, and never to falter in the path of duty." The power of +will, be it great or small, which God has given us, is a Divine +gift; and we ought neither to let it perish for want of using on +the one hand, nor profane it by employing it for ignoble purposes +on the other. Robertson, of Brighton, has truly said, that man's +real greatness consists not in seeking his own pleasure, or fame, +or advancement--"not that every one shall save his own life, not +that every man shall seek his own glory--but that every man shall +do his own duty." + +What most stands in the way of the performance of duty, is +irresolution, weakness of purpose, and indecision. On the one +side are conscience and the knowledge of good and evil; on the +other are indolence, selfishness, love of pleasure, or passion. +The weak and ill-disciplined will may remain suspended for a time +between these influences; but at length the balance inclines one +way or the other, according as the will is called into action or +otherwise. If it be allowed to remain passive, the lower +influence of selfishness or passion will prevail; and thus manhood +suffers abdication, individuality is renounced, character is +degraded, and the man permits himself to become the mere passive +slave of his senses. + +Thus, the power of exercising the will promptly, in obedience to +the dictates of conscience, and thereby resisting the impulses of +the lower nature, is of essential importance in moral discipline, +and absolutely necessary for the development of character in its +best forms. To acquire the habit of well-doing, to resist evil +propensities, to fight against sensual desires, to overcome inborn +selfishness, may require a long and persevering discipline; but +when once the practice of duty is learnt, it becomes consolidated +in habit, and thence-forward is comparatively easy. + +The valiant good man is he who, by the resolute exercise of his +freewill, has so disciplined himself as to have acquired the habit +of virtue; as the bad man is he who, by allowing his freewill to +remain inactive, and giving the bridle to his desires and +passions, has acquired the habit of vice, by which he becomes, at +last, bound as by chains of iron. + +A man can only achieve strength of purpose by the action of his +own freewill. If he is to stand erect, it must be by his own +efforts; for he cannot be kept propped up by the help of others. +He is master of himself and of his actions. He can avoid +falsehood, and be truthful; he can shun sensualism, and be +continent; he can turn aside from doing a cruel thing, and be +benevolent and forgiving. All these lie within the sphere of +individual efforts, and come within the range of self-discipline. +And it depends upon men themselves whether in these respects they +will be free, pure, and good on the one hand; or enslaved, impure, +and miserable on the other. + +Among the wise sayings of Epictetus we find the following: "We do +not choose our own parts in life, and have nothing to do with +those parts: our simple duty is confined to playing them well. +The slave may be as free as the consul; and freedom is the chief +of blessings; it dwarfs all others; beside it all others are +insignificant; with it all others are needless; without it no +others are possible.... You must teach men that happiness is not +where, in their blindness and misery, they seek it. It is not in +strength, for Myro and Ofellius were not happy; not in wealth, for +Croesus was not happy; not in power, for the Consuls were not +happy; not in all these together, for Nero and Sardanapulus and +Agamemnon sighed and wept and tore their hair, and were the slaves +of circumstances and the dupes of semblances. It lies in +yourselves; in true freedom, in the absence or conquest of every +ignoble fear; in perfect self-government; and in a power of +contentment and peace, and the even flow of life amid poverty, +exile, disease, and the very valley of the shadow of death." (3) + +The sense of duty is a sustaining power even to a courageous man. +It holds him upright, and makes him strong. It was a noble saying +of Pompey, when his friends tried to dissuade him from embarking +for Rome in a storm, telling him that he did so at the great peril +of his life: "It is necessary for me to go," he said; "it is not +necessary for me to live." What it was right that he should do, +he would do, in the face of danger and in defiance of storms. + +As might be expected of the great Washington, the chief motive +power in his life was the spirit of duty. It was the regal and +commanding element in his character which gave it unity, +compactness, and vigour. When he clearly saw his duty before him, +he did it at all hazards, and with inflexible integrity. He did +not do it for effect; nor did he think of glory, or of fame and +its rewards; but of the right thing to be done, and the best +way of doing it. + +Yet Washington had a most modest opinion of himself; and when +offered the chief command of the American patriot army, he +hesitated to accept it until it was pressed upon him. When +acknowledging in Congress the honour which had been done him in +selecting him to so important a trust, on the execution of which +the future of his country in a great measure depended, Washington +said: "I beg it may be remembered, lest some unlucky event should +happen unfavourable to my reputation, that I this day declare, +with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the +command I am honoured with." + +And in his letter to his wife, communicating to her his +appointment as Commander-in-Chief, he said: "I have used every +endeavour in my power to avoid it, not only from my unwillingness +to part with you and the family, but from a consciousness of its +being a trust too great for my capacity; and that I should enjoy +more real happiness in one month with you at home, than I have the +most distant prospect of finding abroad, if my stay were to be +seven times seven years. But, as it has been a kind of destiny +that has thrown me upon this service, I shall hope that my +undertaking it is designed for some good purpose. It was utterly +out of my power to refuse the appointment, without exposing my +character to such censures as would have reflected dishonour upon +myself, and given pain to my friends. This, I am sure, could not, +and ought not, to be pleasing to you, and must have lessened me +considerably in my own esteem." (4) + +Washington pursued his upright course through life, first as +Commander-in-Chief, and afterwards as President, never faltering +in the path of duty. He had no regard for popularity, but held to +his purpose, through good and through evil report, often at the +risk of his power and influence. Thus, on one occasion, when the +ratification of a treaty, arranged by Mr. Jay with Great Britain, +was in question, Washington was urged to reject it. But his +honour, and the honour of his country, was committed, and he +refused to do so. A great outcry was raised against the treaty, +and for a time Washington was so unpopular that he is said to have +been actually stoned by the mob. But he, nevertheless, held it to +be his duty to ratify the treaty; and it was carried out, in +despite of petitions and remonstrances from all quarters. "While +I feel," he said, in answer to the remonstrants, "the most lively +gratitude for the many instances of approbation from my country, +I can no otherwise deserve it than by obeying the dictates +of my conscience." +Wellington's watchword, like Washington's, was duty; and no man +could be more loyal to it than he was. (5) "There is little or +nothing," he once said, "in this life worth living for; but we can +all of us go straight forward and do our duty." None recognised +more cheerfully than he did the duty of obedience and willing +service; for unless men can serve faithfully, they will not rule +others wisely. There is no motto that becomes the wise man +better than ICH DIEN, "I serve;" and "They also serve who only +stand and wait." + +When the mortification of an officer, because of his being +appointed to a command inferior to what he considered to be his +merits, was communicated to the Duke, he said: "In the course of +my military career, I have gone from the command of a brigade to +that of my regiment, and from the command of an army to that of a +brigade or a division, as I was ordered, and without any feeling +of mortification." + +Whilst commanding the allied army in Portugal, the conduct of the +native population did not seem to Wellington to be either becoming +or dutiful. "We have enthusiasm in plenty," he said, "and plenty +of cries of 'VIVA!' We have illuminations, patriotic songs, and +FETES everywhere. But what we want is, that each in his own +station should do his duty faithfully, and pay implicit obedience +to legal authority." + +This abiding ideal of duty seemed to be the governing principle of +Wellington's character. It was always uppermost in his mind, and +directed all the public actions of his life. Nor did it fail to +communicate itself to those under him, who served him in the like +spirit. When he rode into one of his infantry squares at +Waterloo, as its diminished numbers closed up to receive a charge +of French cavalry, he said to the men, "Stand steady, lads; think +of what they will say of us in England;" to which the men replied, +"Never fear, sir--we know our duty." + +Duty was also the dominant idea in Nelson's mind. The spirit in +which he served his country was expressed in the famous watchword, +"England expects every man to do his duty," signalled by him to +the fleet before going into action at Trafalgar, as well as in +the last words that passed his lips,--"I have done my duty; +I praise God for it!" + +And Nelson's companion and friend--the brave, sensible, homely- +minded Collingwood--he who, as his ship bore down into the great +sea-fight, said to his flag-captain, "Just about this time our +wives are going to church in England,"--Collingwood too was, like +his commander, an ardent devotee of duty. "Do your duty to the +best of your ability," was the maxim which he urged upon many +young men starting on the voyage of life. To a midshipman he once +gave the following manly and sensible advice:- "You may depend +upon it, that it is more in your own power than in anybody else's +to promote both your comfort and advancement. A strict and +unwearied attention to your duty, and a complacent and respectful +behaviour, not only to your superiors but to everybody, will +ensure you their regard, and the reward will surely come; but if +it should not, I am convinced you have too much good sense to let +disappointment sour you. Guard carefully against letting +discontent appear in you. It will be sorrow to your friends, a +triumph to your competitors, and cannot be productive of any good. +Conduct yourself so as to deserve the best that can come to you, +and the consciousness of your own proper behaviour will keep you +in spirits if it should not come. Let it be your ambition to be +foremost in all duty. Do not be a nice observer of turns, but +ever present yourself ready for everything, and, unless your +officers are very inattentive men, they will not allow others to +impose more duty on you than they should." + +This devotion to duty is said to be peculiar to the English +nation; and it has certainly more or less characterised our +greatest public men. Probably no commander of any other nation +ever went into action with such a signal flying as Nelson at +Trafalgar--not "Glory," or "Victory," or "Honour," or "Country"-- +but simply "Duty!" How few are the nations willing to rally to +such a battle-cry! + +Shortly after the wreck of the BIRKENHEAD off the coast of Africa, +in which the officers and men went down firing a FEU-DE-JOIE after +seeing the women and children safely embarked in the boats,-- +Robertson of Brighton, referring to the circumstance in one of his +letters, said: "Yes! Goodness, Duty, Sacrifice,--these are the +qualities that England honours. She gapes and wonders every now +and then, like an awkward peasant, at some other things--railway +kings, electro-biology, and other trumperies; but nothing stirs +her grand old heart down to its central deeps universally and +long, except the Right. She puts on her shawl very badly, and she +is awkward enough in a concert-room, scarce knowing a Swedish +nightingale from a jackdaw; but--blessings large and long upon +her!--she knows how to teach her sons to sink like men amidst +sharks and billows, without parade, without display, as if Duty +were the most natural thing in the world; and she never mistakes +long an actor for a hero, or a hero for an actor." (6) + +It is a grand thing, after all, this pervading spirit of Duty in a +nation; and so long as it survives, no one need despair of its +future. But when it has departed, or become deadened, and been +supplanted by thirst for pleasure, or selfish aggrandisement, +or "glory"--then woe to that nation, for its dissolution +is near at hand! + +If there be one point on which intelligent observers are agreed +more than another as to the cause of the late deplorable collapse +of France as a nation, it was the utter absence of this feeling of +duty, as well as of truthfulness, from the mind, not only of the +men, but of the leaders of the French people. The unprejudiced +testimony of Baron Stoffel, French military attache at Berlin, +before the war, is conclusive on this point. In his private +report to the Emperor, found at the Tuileries, which was written +in August, 1869, about a year before the outbreak of the war, +Baron Stoffel pointed out that the highly-educated and disciplined +German people were pervaded by an ardent sense of duty, and did +not think it beneath them to reverence sincerely what was noble +and lofty; whereas, in all respects, France presented a melancholy +contrast. There the people, having sneered at everything, had +lost the faculty of respecting anything, and virtue, family +life, patriotism, honour, and religion, were represented to +a frivolous generation as only fitting subjects for ridicule. (7) +Alas! how terribly has France been punished for her sins +against truth and duty! + +Yet the time was, when France possessed many great men inspired by +duty; but they were all men of a comparatively remote past. The +race of Bayard, Duguesclin, Coligny, Duquesne, Turenne, Colbert, +and Sully, seems to have died out and left no lineage. There has +been an occasional great Frenchman of modern times who has raised +the cry of Duty; but his voice has been as that of one crying in +the wilderness. De Tocqueville was one of such; but, like all men +of his stamp, he was proscribed, imprisoned, and driven from +public life. Writing on one occasion to his friend Kergorlay, +he said: "Like you, I become more and more alive to the +happiness which consists in the fulfilment of Duty. I believe +there is no other so deep and so real. There is only one great +object in the world which deserves our efforts, and that is +the good of mankind." (8) + +Although France has been the unquiet spirit among the nations of +Europe since the reign of Louis XIV., there have from time to time +been honest and faithful men who have lifted up their voices +against the turbulent warlike tendencies of the people, and not +only preached, but endeavoured to carry into practice, a gospel of +peace. Of these, the Abbe de St.-Pierre was one of the most +courageous. He had even the boldness to denounce the wars of +Louis XIV., and to deny that monarch's right to the epithet of +'Great,' for which he was punished by expulsion from the Academy. +The Abbe was as enthusiastic an agitator for a system of +international peace as any member of the modern Society of +Friends. As Joseph Sturge went to St. Petersburg to convert the +Emperor of Russia to his views, so the Abbe went to Utrecht to +convert the Conference sitting there, to his project for a Diet; +to secure perpetual peace. Of course he was regarded as an +enthusiast, Cardinal Dubois characterising his scheme as "the +dream of an honest man." Yet the Abbe had found his dream in the +Gospel; and in what better way could he exemplify the spirit of +the Master he served than by endeavouring to abate the horrors and +abominations of war? The Conference was an assemblage of men +representing Christian States: and the Abbe merely called upon +them to put in practice the doctrines they professed to believe. +It was of no use: the potentates and their representatives turned +to him a deaf ear. + +The Abbe de St.-Pierre lived several hundred years too soon. But +he determined that his idea should not be lost, and in 1713 he +published his 'Project of Perpetual Peace.' He there proposed the +formation of a European Diet, or Senate, to be composed of +representatives of all nations, before which princes should be +bound, before resorting to arms, to state their grievances and +require redress. Writing about eighty years after the publication +of this project, Volney asked: "What is a people?--an individual +of the society at large. What a war?--a duel between two +individual people. In what manner ought a society to act when two +of its members fight?--Interfere, and reconcile or repress them. +In the days of the Abbe de St.-Pierre, this was treated as a +dream; but, happily for the human race, it begins to be realised." +Alas for the prediction of Volney! The twenty-five years that +followed the date at which this passage was written, were +distinguished by more devastating and furious wars on the part of +France than had ever been known in the world before. + +The Abbe was not, however, a mere dreamer. He was an active +practical philanthropist and anticipated many social improvements +which have since become generally adopted. He was the original +founder of industrial schools for poor children, where they not +only received a good education, but learned some useful trade, by +which they might earn an honest living when they grew up to +manhood. He advocated the revision and simplification of the +whole code of laws--an idea afterwards carried out by the First +Napoleon. He wrote against duelling, against luxury, against +gambling, against monasticism, quoting the remark of Segrais, that +"the mania for a monastic life is the smallpox of the mind." He +spent his whole income in acts of charity--not in almsgiving, but +in helping poor children, and poor men and women, to help +themselves. His object always was to benefit permanently those +whom he assisted. He continued his love of truth and his freedom +of speech to the last. At the age of eighty he said: "If life is a +lottery for happiness, my lot has been one of the best." When on +his deathbed, Voltaire asked him how he felt, to which he +answered, "As about to make a journey into the country." And in +this peaceful frame of mind he died. But so outspoken had St.- +Pierre been against corruption in high places, that Maupertius, +his Successor at the Academy, was not permitted to pronounce his +ELOGE; nor was it until thirty-two years after his death that this +honour was done to his memory by D'Alembert. The true and +emphatic epitaph of the good, truth-loving, truth-speaking Abbe +was this--"HE LOVED MUCH!" + +Duty is closely allied to truthfulness of character; and the +dutiful man is, above all things, truthful in his words as in his +actions. He says and he does the right thing, in the right way, +and at the right time. + +There is probably no saying of Lord Chesterfield that commends +itself more strongly to the approval of manly-minded men, than +that it is truth that makes the success of the gentleman. +Clarendon, speaking of one of the noblest and purest gentlemen of +his age, says of Falkland, that he "was so severe an adorer of +truth that he could as easily have given himself leave to steal +as to dissemble." + +It was one of the finest things that Mrs. Hutchinson could say of +her husband, that he was a thoroughly truthful and reliable man: +"He never professed the thing he intended not, nor promised what +he believed out of his power, nor failed in the performance of +anything that was in his power to fulfil." + +Wellington was a severe admirer of truth. An illustration may be +given. When afflicted by deafness he consulted a celebrated +aurist, who, after trying all remedies in vain, determined, as a +last resource, to inject into the ear a strong solution of +caustic. It caused the most intense pain, but the patient bore it +with his usual equanimity. The family physician accidentally +calling one day, found the Duke with flushed cheeks and bloodshot +eyes, and when he rose he staggered about like a drunken man. The +doctor asked to be permitted to look at his ear, and then he found +that a furious inflammation was going on, which, if not +immediately checked, must shortly reach the brain and kill him. +Vigorous remedies were at once applied, and the inflammation was +checked. But the hearing of that ear was completely destroyed. +When the aurist heard of the danger his patient had run, through +the violence of the remedy he had employed, he hastened to Apsley +House to express his grief and mortification; but the Duke merely +said: "Do not say a word more about it--you did all for the +best." The aurist said it would be his ruin when it became known +that he had been the cause of so much suffering and danger to his +Grace. "But nobody need know anything about it: keep your own +counsel, and, depend upon it, I won't say a word to any one." +"Then your Grace will allow me to attend you as usual, which will +show the public that you have not withdrawn your confidence from +me?" "No," replied the Duke, kindly but firmly; "I can't do that, +for that would be a lie." He would not act a falsehood any more +than he would speak one. (9) + +Another illustration of duty and truthfulness, as exhibited in the +fulfilment of a promise, may be added from the life of Blucher. +When he was hastening with his army over bad roads to the help of +Wellington, on the 18th of June, 1815, he encouraged his troops by +words and gestures. "Forwards, children--forwards!" "It is +impossible; it can't be done," was the answer. Again and again he +urged them. "Children, we must get on; you may say it can't be +done, but it MUST be done! I have promised my brother Wellington +--PROMISED, do you hear? You wouldn't have me BREAK MY WORD!" +And it was done. + +Truth is the very bond of society, without which it must cease to +exist, and dissolve into anarchy and chaos. A household cannot be +governed by lying; nor can a nation. Sir Thomas Browne once +asked, "Do the devils lie?" "No," was his answer; "for then even +hell could not subsist." No considerations can justify the +sacrifice of truth, which ought to be sovereign in all the +relations of life. + +Of all mean vices, perhaps lying is the meanest. It is in some +cases the offspring of perversity and vice, and in many others of +sheer moral cowardice. Yet many persons think so lightly of it +that they will order their servants to lie for them; nor can they +feel surprised if, after such ignoble instruction, they find their +servants lying for themselves. + +Sir Harry Wotton's description of an ambassador as "an honest man +sent to lie abroad for the benefit of his country," though meant +as a satire, brought him into disfavour with James I. when it +became published; for an adversary quoted it as a principle of the +king's religion. That it was not Wotton's real view of the duty +of an honest man, is obvious from the lines quoted at the head of +this chapter, on 'The Character of a Happy Life,' in which he +eulogises the man + + "Whose armour is his honest thought, + And simple truth his utmost skill." + +But lying assumes many forms--such as diplomacy, expediency, and +moral reservation; and, under one guise or another, it is found +more or less pervading all classes of society. Sometimes it +assumes the form of equivocation or moral dodging--twisting and +so stating the things said as to convey a false impression--a +kind of lying which a Frenchman once described as "walking round +about the truth." + +There are even men of narrow minds and dishonest natures, who +pride themselves upon their jesuitical cleverness in equivocation, +in their serpent-wise shirking of the truth and getting out of +moral back-doors, in order to hide their real opinions and evade +the consequences of holding and openly professing them. +Institutions or systems based upon any such expedients must +necessarily prove false and hollow. "Though a lie be ever so well +dressed," says George Herbert, "it is ever overcome." Downright +lying, though bolder and more vicious, is even less contemptible +than such kind of shuffling and equivocation. + +Untruthfulness exhibits itself in many other forms: in reticency +on the one hand, or exaggeration on the other; in disguise or +concealment; in pretended concurrence in others opinions; in +assuming an attitude of conformity which is deceptive; in making +promises, or allowing them to be implied, which are never intended +to be performed; or even in refraining from speaking the truth +when to do so is a duty. There are also those who are all things +to all men, who say one thing and do another, like Bunyan's Mr. +Facing-both-ways; only deceiving themselves when they think they +are deceiving others--and who, being essentially insincere, fail +to evoke confidence, and invariably in the end turn out failures, +if not impostors. + +Others are untruthful in their pretentiousness, and in assuming +merits which they do not really possess. The truthful man is, on +the contrary, modest, and makes no parade of himself and his +deeds. When Pitt was in his last illness, the news reached +England of the great deeds of Wellington in India. "The more I +hear of his exploits," said Pitt, "the more I admire the modesty +with which he receives the praises he merits for them. He is the +only man I ever knew that was not vain of what he had done, and +yet had so much reason to be so." + +So it is said of Faraday by Professor Tyndall, that "pretence of +all kinds, whether in life or in philosophy, was hateful to him." +Dr. Marshall Hall was a man of like spirit--courageously +truthful, dutiful, and manly. One of his most intimate friends +has said of him that, wherever he met with untruthfulness or +sinister motive, he would expose it, saying--"I neither will, nor +can, give my consent to a lie." The question, "right or wrong," +once decided in his own mind, the right was followed, no matter +what the sacrifice or the difficulty--neither expediency nor +inclination weighing one jot in the balance. + +There was no virtue that Dr. Arnold laboured more sedulously to +instil into young men than the virtue of truthfulness, as being +the manliest of virtues, as indeed the very basis of all true +manliness. He designated truthfulness as "moral transparency," +and he valued it more highly than any other quality. When lying +was detected, he treated it as a great moral offence; but when a +pupil made an assertion, he accepted it with confidence. "If you +say so, that is quite enough; OF COURSE I believe your word." By +thus trusting and believing them, he educated the young in +truthfulness; the boys at length coming to say to one another: +"It's a shame to tell Arnold a lie--he always believes one." (10) + +One of the most striking instances that could be given of the +character of the dutiful, truthful, laborious man, is presented in +the life of the late George Wilson, Professor of Technology in the +University of Edinburgh. (11) Though we bring this illustration +under the head of Duty, it might equally have stood under that of +Courage, Cheerfulness, or Industry, for it is alike illustrative +of these several qualities. + +Wilson's life was, indeed, a marvel of cheerful laboriousness; +exhibiting the power of the soul to triumph over the body, and +almost to set it at defiance. It might be taken as an +illustration of the saying of the whaling-captain to Dr. Kane, as +to the power of moral force over physical: "Bless you, sir, the +soul will any day lift the body out of its boots!" + +A fragile but bright and lively boy, he had scarcely entered +manhood ere his constitution began to exhibit signs of disease. +As early, indeed, as his seventeenth year, he began to complain of +melancholy and sleeplessness, supposed to be the effects of bile. +"I don't think I shall live long," he then said to a friend; "my +mind will--must work itself out, and the body will soon follow +it." A strange confession for a boy to make! But he gave his +physical health no fair chance. His life was all brain-work, +study, and competition. When he took exercise it was in sudden +bursts, which did him more harm than good. Long walks in the +Highlands jaded and exhausted him; and he returned to his brain- +work unrested and unrefreshed. + +It was during one of his forced walks of some twenty-four miles in +the neighbourhood of Stirling, that he injured one of his feet, +and he returned home seriously ill. The result was an abscess, +disease of the ankle-joint, and long agony, which ended in the +amputation of the right foot. But he never relaxed in his +labours. He was now writing, lecturing, and teaching chemistry. +Rheumatism and acute inflammation of the eye next attacked him; +and were treated by cupping, blisetring, and colchicum. Unable +himself to write, he went on preparing his lectures, which he +dictated to his sister. Pain haunted him day and night, and sleep +was only forced by morphia. While in this state of general +prostration, symptoms of pulmonary disease began to show +themselves. Yet he continued to give the weekly lectures to which +he stood committed to the Edinburgh School of Arts. Not one was +shirked, though their delivery, before a large audience, was a +most exhausting duty. "Well, there's another nail put into my +coffin," was the remark made on throwing off his top-coat on +returning home; and a sleepless night almost invariably followed. + +At twenty-seven, Wilson was lecturing ten, eleven, or more hours +weekly, usually with setons or open blister-wounds upon him--his +"bosom friends," he used to call them. He felt the shadow of +death upon him; and he worked as if his days were numbered. +"Don't be surprised," he wrote to a friend, "if any morning at +breakfast you hear that I am gone." But while he said so, he did +not in the least degree indulge in the feeling of sickly +sentimentality. He worked on as cheerfully and hopefully as if in +the very fulness of his strength. "To none," said he, "is life so +sweet as to those who have lost all fear to die." + +Sometimes he was compelled to desist from his labours by sheer +debility, occasioned by loss of blood from the lungs; but after a +few weeks' rest and change of air, he would return to his work, +saying, "The water is rising in the well again!" Though disease +had fastened on his lungs, and was spreading there, and though +suffering from a distressing cough, he went on lecturing as usual. +To add to his troubles, when one day endeavouring to recover +himself from a stumble occasioned by his lameness, he overstrained +his arm, and broke the bone near the shoulder. But he recovered +from his successive accidents and illnesses in the most +extraordinary way. The reed bent, but did not break: the storm +passed, and it stood erect as before. + +There was no worry, nor fever, nor fret about him; but instead, +cheerfulness, patience, and unfailing perseverance. His mind, +amidst all his sufferings, remained perfectly calm and serene. He +went about his daily work with an apparently charmed life, as if +he had the strength of many men in him. Yet all the while he knew +he was dying, his chief anxiety being to conceal his state from +those about him at home, to whom the knowledge of his actual +condition would have been inexpressibly distressing. "I am +cheerful among strangers," he said, "and try to live day by day +as a dying man." (12) + +He went on teaching as before--lecturing to the Architectural +Institute and to the School of Arts. One day, after a lecture +before the latter institute, he lay down to rest, and was shortly +awakened by the rupture of a bloodvessel, which occasioned him the +loss of a considerable quantity of blood. He did not experience +the despair and agony that Keats did on a like occasion; (13) +though he equally knew that the messenger of death had come, and +was waiting for him. He appeared at the family meals as usual, +and next day he lectured twice, punctually fulfilling his +engagements; but the exertion of speaking was followed by a second +attack of haemorrhage. He now became seriously ill, and it was +doubted whether he would survive the night. But he did survive; +and during his convalescence he was appointed to an important +public office--that of Director of the Scottish Industrial +Museum, which involved a great amount of labour, as well as +lecturing, in his capacity of Professor of Technology, which he +held in connection with the office. + +From this time forward, his "dear museum," as he called it, +absorbed all his surplus energies. While busily occupied in +collecting models and specimens for the museum, he filled up his +odds-and-ends of time in lecturing to Ragged Schools, Ragged +Kirks, and Medical Missionary Societies. He gave himself no rest, +either of mind or body; and "to die working" was the fate he +envied. His mind would not give in, but his poor body was forced +to yield, and a severe attack of haemorrhage--bleeding from both +lungs and stomach (14)--compelled him to relax in his labours. +"For a month, or some forty days," he wrote--"a dreadful Lent +--the mind has blown geographically from 'Araby the blest,' but +thermometrically from Iceland the accursed. I have been made a +prisoner of war, hit by an icicle in the lungs, and have shivered +and burned alternately for a large portion of the last month, and +spat blood till I grew pale with coughing. Now I am better, and +to-morrow I give my concluding lecture (on Technology), thankful +that I have contrived, notwithstanding all my troubles, to carry +on without missing a lecture to the last day of the Faculty of +Arts, to which I belong." (15) + +How long was it to last? He himself began to wonder, for he had +long felt his life as if ebbing away. At length he became +languid, weary, and unfit for work; even the writing of a letter +cost him a painful effort, and. he felt "as if to lie down and +sleep were the only things worth doing." Yet shortly after, to +help a Sunday-school, he wrote his 'Five Gateways of Knowledge,' +as a lecture, and afterwards expanded it into a book. He also +recovered strength sufficient to enable him to proceed with his +lectures to the institutions to which he belonged, besides on +various occasions undertaking to do other people's work. "I am +looked upon as good as mad," he wrote to his brother, "because, on +a hasty notice, I took a defaulting lecturer's place at the +Philosophical Institution, and discoursed on the Polarization of +Light.... But I like work: it is a family weakness." + +Then followed chronic malaise--sleepless nights, days of pain, +and more spitting of blood. "My only painless moments," he says, +"were when lecturing." In this state of prostration and disease, +the indefatigable man undertook to write the 'Life of Edward +Forbes'; and he did it, like everything he undertook, with +admirable ability. He proceeded with his lectures as usual. To +an association of teachers he delivered a discourse on the +educational value of industrial science. After he had spoken to +his audience for an hour, he left them to say whether he should go +on or not, and they cheered him on to another half-hour's address. +"It is curious," he wrote, "the feeling of having an audience, +like clay in your hands, to mould for a season as you please. It +is a terribly responsible power.... I do not mean for a moment to +imply that I am indifferent to the good opinion of others--far +otherwise; but to gain this is much less a concern with me than to +deserve it. It was not so once. I had no wish for unmerited +praise, but I was too ready to settle that I did merit it. Now, +the word DUTY seems to me the biggest word in the world, and is +uppermost in all my serious doings." + +This was written only about four months before his death. A +little later he wrote, "I spin my thread of life from week to +week, rather than from year to year." Constant attacks of +bleeding from the lungs sapped his little remaining strength, +but did not altogether disable him from lecturing. He was +amused by one of his friends proposing to put him under +trustees for the purpose of looking after his health. +But he would not be restrained from working, so long +as a vestige of strength remained. + +One day, in the autumn of 1859, he returned from his customary +lecture in the University of Edinburgh with a severe pain in his +side. He was scarcely able to crawl upstairs. Medical aid was +sent for, and he was pronounced to be suffering from pleurisy and +inflammation of the lungs. His enfeebled frame was ill able to +resist so severe a disease, and he sank peacefully to the rest he +so longed for, after a few days' illness: + + "Wrong not the dead with tears! + A glorious bright to-morrow + Endeth a weary life of pain and sorrow." + +The life of George Wilson--so admirably and affectionately +related by his sister--is probably one of the most marvellous +records of pain and longsuffering, and yet of persistent, noble, +and useful work, that is to be found in the whole history of +literature. His entire career was indeed but a prolonged +illustration of the lines which he himself addressed to his +deceased friend, Dr. John Reid, a likeminded man, whose memoir he +wrote:- + + "Thou wert a daily lesson + Of courage, hope, and faith; + We wondered at thee living, + We envy thee thy death. + + Thou wert so meek and reverent, + So resolute of will, + So bold to bear the uttermost, + And yet so calm and still." + + + +NOTES + +(1) From Lovelace's lines to Lucusta (Lucy Sacheverell), 'Going +to the Wars.' + +(2) Amongst other great men of genius, Ariosto and Michael Angelo +devoted to her their service and their muse. + +(3) See the Rev. F. W. Farrar's admirable book, entitled 'Seekers +after God' (Sunday Library). The author there says: "Epictetus +was not a Christian. He has only once alluded to the Christians +in his works, and then it is under the opprobrious title of +'Galileans,' who practised a kind of insensibility in painful +circumstances, and an indifference to worldly interests, which +Epictetus unjustly sets down to 'mere habit.' Unhappily, it was +not granted to these heathen philosophers in any true sense to +know what Christianity was. They thought that it was an attempt +to imitate the results of philosophy, without having passed +through the necessary discipline. They viewed it with suspicion, +they treated it with injustice. And yet in Christianity, and in +Christianity alone, they would have found an ideal which would +have surpassed their loftiest anticipations." + +(4) Sparks' 'Life of Washington,' pp. 141-2. + +(5) Wellington, like Washington, had to pay the penalty of his +adherence to the cause he thought right, in his loss of +"popularity." He was mobbed in the streets of London, and had his +windows smashed by the mob, while his wife lay dead in the house. +Sir Walter Scott also was hooted and pelted at Hawick by "the +people," amidst cries of "Burke Sir Walter!" + +(6) Robertson's 'Life and Letters,' ii. 157. + +(7) We select the following passages from this remarkable report of +Baron Stoffel, as being of more than merely temporary interest:- + +Who that has lived here (Berlin) will deny that the Prussians are +energetic, patriotic, and teeming with youthful vigour; that they +are not corrupted by sensual pleasures, but are manly, have +earnest convictions, do not think it beneath them to reverence +sincerely what is noble and lofty? What a melancholy contrast +does France offer in all this? Having sneered at everything, she +has lost the faculty of respecting anything. Virtue, family life, +patriotism, honour, religion, are represented to a frivolous +generation as fitting subjects of ridicule. The theatres have +become schools of shamelessness and obscenity. Drop by drop, +poison is instilled into the very core of an ignorant and +enervated society, which has neither the insight nor the energy +left to amend its institutions, nor--which would be the most +necessary step to take--become better informed or more moral. +One after the other the fine qualities of the nation are dying +out. Where is the generosity, the loyalty, the charm of our +ESPRIT, and our former elevation of soul? If this goes on, the +time will come when this noble race of France will be known only +by its faults. And France has no idea that while she is sinking, +more earnest nations are stealing the march upon her, are +distancing her on the road to progress, and are preparing for her +a secondary position in the world. + +"I am afraid that these opinions will not be relished in France. +However correct, they differ too much from what is usually said +and asserted at home. I should wish some enlightened and +unprejudiced Frenchmen to come to Prussia and make this country +their study. They would soon discover that they were living in +the midst of a strong, earnest, and intelligent nation, entirely +destitute, it is true, of noble and delicate feelings, of all +fascinating charms, but endowed with every solid virtue, and alike +distinguished for untiring industry, order, and economy, as well +as for patriotism, a strong sense of duty, and that consciousness +of personal dignity which in their case is so happily blended with +respect for authority and obedience to the law. They would see a +country with firm, sound, and moral institutions, whose upper +classes are worthy of their rank, and, by possessing the highest +degree of culture, devoting themselves to the service of the +State, setting an example of patriotism, and knowing how to +preserve the influence legitimately their own. They would find a +State with an excellent administration where everything is in its +right place, and where the most admirable order prevails in every +branch of the social and political system. Prussia may be well +compared to a massive structure of lofty proportions and +astounding solidity, which, though it has nothing to delight the +eye or speak to the heart, cannot but impress us with its grand +symmetry, equally observable in its broad foundations as in its +strong and sheltering roof. + +"And what is France? What is French society in these latter days? +A hurly-burly of disorderly elements, all mixed and jumbled +together; a country in which everybody claims the right to occupy +the highest posts, yet few remember that a man to be employed in a +responsible position ought to have a well-balanced mind, ought to +be strictly moral, to know something of the world, and possess +certain intellectual powers; a country in which the highest +offices are frequently held by ignorant and uneducated persons, +who either boast some special talent, or whose only claim is +social position and some versatility and address. What a baneful +and degrading state of things! And how natural that, while it +lasts, France should be full of a people without a position, +without a calling, who do not know what to do with themselves, but +are none the less eager to envy and malign every one who does.... + +"The French do not possess in any very marked degree the qualities +required to render general conscription acceptable, or to turn it +to account. Conceited and egotistic as they are, the people would +object to an innovation whose invigorating force they are unable +to comprehend, and which cannot be carried out without virtues +which they do not possess--self-abnegation, conscientious +recognition of duty, and a willingness to sacrifice personal +interests to the loftier demands of the country. As the character +of individuals is only improved by experience, most nations +require a chastisement before they set about reorganising their +political institutions. So Prussia wanted a Jena to make her the +strong and healthy country she is." + +(8) Yet even in De Tocqueville's benevolent nature, there was a +pervading element of impatience. In the very letter in which the +above passage occurs, he says: "Some persons try to be of use to +men while they despise them, and others because they love them. +In the services rendered by the first, there is always something +incomplete, rough, and contemptuous, that inspires neither +confidence nor gratitude. I should like to belong to the second +class, but often I cannot. I love mankind in general, but I +constantly meet with individuals whose baseness revolts me. I +struggle daily against a universal contempt for my fellow, +creatures."--MEMOIRS AND REMAINS OF DE TOCQUEVILLE, vol. i. p. +813. (Letter to Kergorlay, Nov. 13th, 1833). + +(9) Gleig's 'Life of Wellington,' pp. 314, 315. + +(10) 'Life of Arnold,' i. 94. + +(11) See the 'Memoir of George Wilson, M.D., F.R.S.E.' By his sister +(Edinburgh, 1860). + +(12) Such cases are not unusual. We personally knew a young lady, a +countrywoman of Professor Wilson, afflicted by cancer in the +breast, who concealed the disease from her parents lest it should +occasion them distress. An operation became necessary; and when +the surgeons called for the purpose of performing it, she herself +answered the door, received them with a cheerful countenance, led +them upstairs to her room, and submitted to the knife; and her +parents knew nothing of the operation until it was all over. +But the disease had become too deeply seated for recovery, +and the noble self-denying girl died, cheerful and uncomplaining +to the end. + +(13) "One night, about eleven o'clock, Keats returned home in a state +of strange physical excitement--it might have appeared, to those +who did not know him, one of fierce intoxication. He told his +friend he had been outside the stage-coach, had received a severe +chill, was a little fevered, but added, 'I don't feel it now.' He +was easily persuaded to go to bed, and as he leapt into the cold +sheets, before his head was on the pillow, he slightly coughed and +said, 'That is blood from my mouth; bring me the candle; let me +see this blood' He gazed steadfastly for some moments at the ruddy +stain, and then, looking in his friend's face with an expression +of sudden calmness never to be forgotten, said, 'I know the colour +of that blood--it is arterial blood. I cannot be deceived in +that colour; that drop is my death-warrant. I must die!'" +--Houghton's LIFE OF KEATS, Ed. 1867, p. 289. + +In the case of George Wilson, the bleeding was in the first +instance from the stomach, though he afterwards suffered from lung +haemorrhage like Keats. Wilson afterwards, speaking of the Lives +of Lamb and Keats, which had just appeared, said he had been +reading them with great sadness. "There is," said he, "something +in the noble brotherly love of Charles to brighten, and hallow, +and relieve that sadness; but Keats's deathbed is the blackness of +midnight, unmitigated by one ray of light!" + +(14) On the doctors, who attended him in his first attack, mistaking +the haemorrhage from the stomach for haemorrhage from the lungs, +he wrote: "It would have been but poor consolation to have had +as an epitaph:- + + "Here lies George Wilson, + Overtaken by Nemesis; + He died not of Haemoptysis, + But of Haematemesis." + +(15) 'Memoir,' p. 427. + + + +CHAPTER VIII.--TEMPER. + + + + "Temper is nine-tenths of Christianity."--BISHOP WILSON. + + "Heaven is a temper, not a place."--DR. CHALMERS. + + "And should my youth, as youth is apt I know, + Some harshness show; + All vain asperities I day by day + Would wear away, + Till the smooth temper of my age should be + Like the high leaves upon the Holly Tree"--SOUTHEY. + + Even Power itself hath not one-half the might of Gentleness" + --LEIGH HUNT. + + +It has been said that men succeed in life quite as much by their +temper as by their talents. However this may be, it is certain +that their happiness in life depends mainly upon their equanimity +of disposition, their patience and forbearance, and their kindness +and thoughtfulness for those about them. It is really true what +Plato says, that in seeking the good of others we find our own. + +There are some natures so happily constituted that they can find +good in everything. There is no calamity so great but they can +educe comfort or consolation from it--no sky so black but they +can discover a gleam of sunshine issuing through it from some +quarter or another; and if the sun be not visible to their eyes, +they at least comfort themselves with the thought that it IS +there, though veiled from them for some good and wise purpose. + +Such happy natures are to be envied. They have a beam in the eye +--a beam of pleasure, gladness, religious cheerfulness, +philosophy, call it what you will. Sunshine is about their +hearts, and their mind gilds with its own hues all that it looks +upon. When they have burdens to bear, they bear them cheerfully-- +not repining, nor fretting, nor wasting their energies in useless +lamentation, but struggling onward manfully, gathering up such +flowers as lie along their path. + +Let it not for a moment be supposed that men such as those we +speak of are weak and unreflective. The largest and most +comprehensive natures are generally also the most cheerful, the +most loving, the most hopeful, the most trustful. It is the wise +man, of large vision, who is the quickest to discern the moral +sunshine gleaming through the darkest cloud. In present evil he +sees prospective good; in pain, he recognises the effort of nature +to restore health; in trials, he finds correction and discipline; +and in sorrow and suffering, he gathers courage, knowledge, and +the best practical wisdom. + +When Jeremy Taylor had lost all--when his house had been +plundered, and his family driven out-of-doors, and all his worldly +estate had been sequestrated--he could still write thus: "I am +fallen into the hands of publicans and sequestrators, and they +have taken all from me; what now? Let me look about me. They +have left me the sun and moon, a loving wife, and many friends to +pity me, and some to relieve me; and I can still discourse, and, +unless I list, they have not taken away my merry countenance and +my cheerful spirit, and a good conscience; they have still left me +the providence of God, and all the promises of the Gospel, and my +religion, and my hopes of heaven, and my charity to them, too; and +still I sleep and digest, I eat and drink, I read and meditate.... +And he that hath so many causes of joy, and so great, is very much +in love with sorrow and peevishness, who loves all these +pleasures, and chooses to sit down upon his little handful +of thorns." (1) + +Although cheerfulness of disposition is very much a matter of +inborn temperament, it is also capable of being trained and +cultivated like any other habit. We may make the best of life, or +we may make the worst of it; and it depends very much upon +ourselves whether we extract joy or misery from it. There are +always two sides of life on which we can look, according as we +choose--the bright side or the gloomy. We can bring the power of +the will to bear in making the choice, and thus cultivate the +habit of being happy or the reverse. We can encourage the +disposition of looking at the brightest side of things, instead of +the darkest. And while we see the cloud, let us not shut our eyes +to the silver lining. + +The beam in the eye sheds brightness, beauty, and joy upon life in +all its phases. It shines upon coldness, and warms it; upon +suffering, and comforts it; upon ignorance, and enlightens it; +upon sorrow, and cheers it. The beam in the eye gives lustre to +intellect, and brightens beauty itself. Without it the sunshine +of life is not felt, flowers bloom in vain, the marvels of heaven +and earth are not seen or acknowledged, and creation is but a +dreary, lifeless, soulless blank. + +While cheerfulness of disposition is a great source of enjoyment +in life, it is also a great safeguard of character. A devotional +writer of the present day, in answer to the question, How are we +to overcome temptations? says: "Cheerfulness is the first thing, +cheerfulness is the second, and cheerfulness is the third." It +furnishes the best soil for the growth of goodness and virtue. It +gives brightness of heart and elasticity of spirit. It is the +companion of charity, the nurse of patience the mother of wisdom. +It is also the best of moral and mental tonics. "The best cordial +of all," said Dr. Marshall Hall to one of his patients, "is +cheerfulness." And Solomon has said that "a merry heart doeth +good like a medicine." When Luther was once applied to for a +remedy against melancholy, his advice was: "Gaiety and courage-- +innocent gaiety, and rational honourable courage--are the best +medicine for young men, and for old men, too; for all men against +sad thoughts." (2) Next to music, if not before it, Luther loved +children and flowers. The great gnarled man had a heart as +tender as a woman's. + +Cheerfulness is also an excellent wearing quality. It has been +called the bright weather of the heart. It gives harmony of soul, +and is a perpetual song without words. It is tantamount to +repose. It enables nature to recruit its strength; whereas worry +and discontent debilitate it, involving constant wear-and-tear. +How is it that we see such men as Lord Palmerston growing old in +harness, working on vigorously to the end? Mainly through +equanimity of temper and habitual cheerfulness. They have +educated themselves in the habit of endurance, of not being easily +provoked, of bearing and forbearing, of hearing harsh and even +unjust things said of them without indulging in undue resentment, +and avoiding worreting, petty, and self-tormenting cares. An +intimate friend of Lord Palmerston, who observed him closely for +twenty years, has said that he never saw him angry, with perhaps +one exception; and that was when the ministry responsible for the +calamity in Affghanistan, of which he was one, were unjustly +accused by their opponents of falsehood, perjury, and wilful +mutilation of public documents. + +So far as can be learnt from biography, men of the greatest genius +have been for the most part cheerful, contented men--not eager +for reputation, money, or power--but relishing life, and keenly +susceptible of enjoyment, as we find reflected in their works. +Such seem to have been Homer, Horace, Virgil, Montaigne, +Shakspeare, Cervantes. Healthy serene cheerfulness is apparent in +their great creations. Among the same class of cheerful-minded +men may also be mentioned Luther, More, Bacon, Leonardo da Vinci, +Raphael, and Michael Angelo. Perhaps they were happy because +constantly occupied, and in the pleasantest of all work--that of +creating out of the fulness and richness of their great minds. + +Milton, too, though a man of many trials and sufferings, must +have been a man of great cheerfulness and elasticity of nature. +Though overtaken by blindness, deserted by friends, and fallen +upon evil days--"darkness before and danger's voice behind" +--yet did he not bate heart or hope, but "still bore up and +steered right onward." + +Henry Fielding was a man borne down through life by debt, and +difficulty, and bodily suffering; and yet Lady Mary Wortley +Montague has said of him that, by virtue of his cheerful +disposition, she was persuaded he "had known more happy moments +than any person on earth." + +Dr. Johnson, through all his trials and sufferings and hard fights +with fortune, was a courageous and cheerful-natured man. He +manfully made the best of life, and tried to be glad in it. Once, +when a clergyman was complaining of the dulness of society in the +country, saying "they only talk of runts" (young cows), Johnson +felt flattered by the observation of Mrs. Thrale's mother, who +said, "Sir, Dr. Johnson would learn to talk of runts"--meaning +that he was a man who would make the most of his situation, +whatever it was. + +Johnson was of opinion that a man grew better as he grew older, +and that his nature mellowed with age. This is certainly a much +more cheerful view of human nature than that of Lord Chesterfield, +who saw life through the eyes of a cynic, and held that "the heart +never grows better by age: it only grows harder." But both +sayings may be true according to the point from which life is +viewed, and the temper by which a man is governed; for while the +good, profiting by experience, and disciplining themselves by +self-control, will grow better, the ill-conditioned, uninfluenced +by experience, will only grow worse. + +Sir Walter Scott was a man full of the milk of human kindness. +Everybody loved him. He was never five minutes in a room ere the +little pets of the family, whether dumb or lisping, had found out +his kindness for all their generation. Scott related to Captain +Basil Hall an incident of his boyhood which showed the tenderness +of his nature. One day, a dog coming towards him, he took up a +big stone, threw it, and hit the dog. The poor creature had +strength enough left to crawl up to him and lick his feet, +although he saw its leg was broken. The incident, he said, had +given him the bitterest remorse in his after-life; but he added, +"An early circumstance of that kind, properly reflected on, +is calculated to have the best effect on one's character +throughout life." + +"Give me an honest laugher," Scott would say; and he himself +laughed the heart's laugh. He had a kind word for everybody, and +his kindness acted all round him like a contagion, dispelling the +reserve and awe which his great name was calculated to inspire. +"He'll come here," said the keeper of the ruins of Melrose Abbey +to Washington Irving--"he'll come here some-times, wi' great +folks in his company, and the first I'll know of it is hearing his +voice calling out, 'Johnny! Johnny Bower!' And when I go out I'm +sure to be greeted wi' a joke or a pleasant word. He'll stand and +crack and laugh wi' me, just like an auld wife; and to think that +of a man that has SUCH AN AWFU' KNOWLEDGE O' HISTORY!" + +Dr. Arnold was a man of the same hearty cordiality of manner-- +full of human sympathy. There was not a particle of affectation +or pretence of condescension about him. "I never knew such a +humble man as the doctor," said the parish clerk at Laleham; "he +comes and shakes us by the hand as if he was one of us." "He used +to come into my house," said an old woman near Fox How, "and talk +to me as if I were a lady." + +Sydney Smith was another illustration of the power of +cheerfulness. He was ever ready to look on the bright side of +things; the darkest cloud had to him its silver lining. Whether +working as country curate, or as parish rector, he was always +kind, laborious, patient, and exemplary; exhibiting in every +sphere of life the spirit of a Christian, the kindness of a +pastor, and the honour of a gentleman. In his leisure he employed +his pen on the side of justice, freedom, education, toleration, +emancipation; and his writings, though full of common-sense and +bright humour, are never vulgar; nor did he ever pander to +popularity or prejudice. His good spirits, thanks to his natural +vivacity and stamina of constitution, never forsook him; and in +his old age, when borne down by disease, he wrote to a friend: "I +have gout, asthma, and seven other maladies, but am otherwise very +well." In one of the last letters he wrote to Lady Carlisle, he +said: "If you hear of sixteen or eighteen pounds of flesh wanting +an owner, they belong to me. I look as if a curate had been +taken out of me." + +Great men of science have for the most part been patient, +laborious, cheerful-minded men. Such were Galileo, Descartes, +Newton, and Laplace. Euler the mathematician, one of the greatest +of natural philosophers, was a distinguished instance. Towards +the close of his life he became completely blind; but he went on +writing as cheerfully as before, supplying the want of sight by +various ingenious mechanical devices, and by the increased +cultivation of his memory, which became exceedingly tenacious. +His chief pleasure was in the society of his grandchildren, to +whom he taught their little lessons in the intervals of his +severer studies. + +In like manner, Professor Robison of Edinburgh, the first editor +of the 'Encyclopaedia Britannica,' when disabled from work by a +lingering and painful disorder, found his chief pleasure in the +society of his grandchild. "I am infinitely delighted," he wrote +to James Watt, "with observing the growth of its little soul, and +particularly with its numberless instincts, which formerly passed +unheeded. I thank the French theorists for more forcibly +directing my attention to the finger of God, which I discern in +every awkward movement and every wayward whim. They are all +guardians of his life and growth and power. I regret indeed +that I have not time to make infancy and the development of +its powers my sole study." + +One of the sorest trials of a man's temper and patience was that +which befell Abauzit, the natural philosopher, while residing at +Geneva; resembling in many respects a similar calamity which +occurred to Newton, and which he bore with equal resignation. +Amongst other things, Abauzit devoted much study to the barometer +and its variations, with the object of deducing the general laws +which regulated atmospheric pressure. During twenty-seven years +he made numerous observations daily, recording them on sheets +prepared for the purpose. One day, when a new servant was +installed in the house, she immediately proceeded to display her +zeal by "putting things to-rights." Abauzit's study, amongst +other rooms, was made tidy and set in order. When he entered it, +he asked of the servant, "What have you done with the paper that +was round the barometer?" "Oh, sir," was the reply, "it was so +dirty that I burnt it, and put in its place this paper, which you +will see is quite new." Abauzit crossed his arms, and after some +moments of internal struggle, he said, in a tone of calmness and +resignation: "You have destroyed the results of twenty-seven years +labour; in future touch nothing whatever in this room." + +The study of natural history more than that of any other branch of +science, seems to be accompanied by unusual cheerfulness and +equanimity of temper on the part of its votaries; the result of +which is, that the life of naturalists is on the whole more +prolonged than that of any other class of men of science. A +member of the Linnaean Society has informed us that of fourteen +members who died in 1870, two were over ninety, five were over +eighty, and two were over seventy. The average age of all the +members who died in that year was seventy-five. + +Adanson, the French botanist, was about seventy years old when the +Revolution broke out, and amidst the shock he lost everything-- +his fortune, his places, and his gardens. But his patience, +courage, and resignation never forsook him. He became reduced to +the greatest straits, and even wanted food and clothing; yet his +ardour of investigation remained the same. Once, when the +Institute invited him, as being one of its oldest members, to +assist at a SEANCE, his answer was that he regretted he could not +attend for want of shoes. "It was a touching sight," says Cuvier, +"to see the poor old man, bent over the embers of a decaying fire, +trying to trace characters with a feeble hand on the little bit of +paper which he held, forgetting all the pains of life in some new +idea in natural history, which came to him like some beneficent +fairy to cheer him in his loneliness." The Directory eventually +gave him a small pension, which Napoleon doubled; and at length, +easeful death came to his relief in his seventy-ninth year. A +clause in his will, as to the manner of his funeral, illustrates +the character of the man. He directed that a garland of flowers, +provided by fifty-eight families whom he had established in life, +should be the only decoration of his coffin--a slight but +touching image of the more durable monument which he had erected +for himself in his works. + +Such are only a few instances, of the cheerful-working-ness of +great men, which might, indeed, be multiplied to any extent. All +large healthy natures are cheerful as well as hopeful. Their +example is also contagious and diffusive, brightening and cheering +all who come within reach of their influence. It was said of Sir +John Malcolm, when he appeared in a saddened camp in India, that +"it was like a gleam of sunlight,.... no man left him without a +smile on his face. He was 'boy Malcolm' still. It was impossible +to resist the fascination of his genial presence." (3) + +There was the same joyousness of nature about Edmund Burke. Once +at a dinner at Sir Joshua Reynolds's, when the conversation turned +upon the suitability of liquors for particular temperaments, +Johnson said, "Claret is for boys, port for men, and brandy for +heroes." "Then," said Burke, "let me have claret: I love to be a +boy, and to have the careless gaiety of boyish days." And so it +is, that there are old young men, and young old men--some who are +as joyous and cheerful as boys in their old age, and others who +are as morose and cheerless as saddened old men while still in +their boyhood. + +In the presence of some priggish youths, we have heard a cheerful +old man declare that, apparently, there would soon be nothing but +"old boys" left. Cheerfulness, being generous and genial, joyous +and hearty, is never the characteristic of prigs. Goethe used to +exclaim of goody-goody persons, "Oh! if they had but the heart to +commit an absurdity!" This was when he thought they wanted +heartiness and nature. "Pretty dolls!" was his expression when +speaking of them, and turning away. + +The true basis of cheerfulness is love, hope, and patience. Love +evokes love, and begets loving kindness. Love cherishes hopeful +and generous thoughts of others. It is charitable, gentle, and +truthful. It is a discerner of good. It turns to the brightest +side of things, and its face is ever directed towards happiness. +It sees "the glory in the grass, the sunshine on the flower." It +encourages happy thoughts, and lives in an atmosphere of +cheerfulness. It costs nothing, and yet is invaluable; for it +blesses its possessor, and grows up in abundant happiness in the +bosoms of others. Even its sorrows are linked with pleasures, and +its very tears are sweet. + +Bentham lays it down as a principle, that a man becomes rich in +his own stock of pleasures in proportion to the amount he +distributes to others. His kindness will evoke kindness, and his +happiness be increased by his own benevolence. "Kind words," he +says, "cost no more than unkind ones. Kind words produce kind +actions, not only on the part of him to whom they are addressed, +but on the part of him by whom they are employed; and this not +incidentally only, but habitually, in virtue of the principle of +association.".... "It may indeed happen, that the effort of +beneficence may not benefit those for whom it was intended; but +when wisely directed, it MUST benefit the person from whom it +emanates. Good and friendly conduct may meet with an unworthy and +ungrateful return; but the absence of gratitude on the part of the +receiver cannot destroy the self-approbation which recompenses the +giver, and we may scatter the seeds of courtesy and kindliness +around us at so little expense. Some of them will inevitably fall +on good ground, and grow up into benevolence in the minds of +others; and all of them will bear fruit of happiness in the bosom +whence they spring. Once blest are all the virtues always; twice +blest sometimes." (4) + +The poet Rogers used to tell a story of a little girl, a great +favourite with every one who knew her. Some one said to her, "Why +does everybody love you so much?" She answered, "I think it is +because I love everybody so much." This little story is capable +of a very wide application; for our happiness as human beings, +generally speaking, will be found to be very much in proportion to +the number of things we love, and the number of things that love +us. And the greatest worldly success, however honestly achieved, +will contribute comparatively little to happiness, unless it be +accompanied by a lively benevolence towards every human being. + +Kindness is indeed a great power in the world. Leigh Hunt has +truly said that "Power itself hath not one half the might of +gentleness." Men are always best governed through their +affections. There is a French proverb which says that, "LES +HOMMES SE PRENNENT PAR LA DOUCEUR," and a coarser English one, to +the effect that "More wasps are caught by honey than by vinegar." +"Every act of kindness," says Bentham, "is in fact an exercise of +power, and a stock of friendship laid up; and why should not power +exercise itself in the production of pleasure as of pain?" + +Kindness does not consist in gifts, but in gentleness and +generosity of spirit. Men may give their money which comes from +the purse, and withhold their kindness which comes from the heart. +The kindness that displays itself in giving money, does not amount +to much, and often does quite as much harm as good; but the +kindness of true sympathy, of thoughtful help, is never without +beneficent results. + +The good temper that displays itself in kindness must not be +confounded with softness or silliness. In its best form, it is +not a merely passive but an active condition of being. It is not +by any means indifferent, but largely sympathetic. It does not +characterise the lowest and most gelatinous forms of human life, +but those that are the most highly organized. True kindness +cherishes and actively promotes all reasonable instrumentalities +for doing practical good in its own time; and, looking into +futurity, sees the same spirit working on for the eventual +elevation and happiness of the race. + +It is the kindly-dispositioned men who are the active men of the +world, while the selfish and the sceptical, who have no love but +for themselves, are its idlers. Buffon used to say, that he would +give nothing for a young man who did not begin life with an +enthusiasm of some sort. It showed that at least he had faith in +something good, lofty, and generous, even if unattainable. + +Egotism, scepticism, and selfishness are always miserable +companions in life, and they are especially unnatural in youth. +The egotist is next-door to a fanatic. Constantly occupied with +self, he has no thought to spare for others. He refers to himself +in all things, thinks of himself, and studies himself, until his +own little self becomes his own little god. + +Worst of all are the grumblers and growlers at fortune--who find +that "whatever is is wrong," and will do nothing to set matters +right--who declare all to be barren "from Dan even to Beersheba." +These grumblers are invariably found the least efficient helpers +in the school of life. As the worst workmen are usually the +readiest to "strike," so the least industrious members of society +are the readiest to complain. The worst wheel of all is the +one that creaks. + +There is such a thing as the cherishing of discontent until the +feeling becomes morbid. The jaundiced see everything about them +yellow. The ill-conditioned think all things awry, and the whole +world out-of-joint. All is vanity and vexation of spirit. The +little girl in PUNCH, who found her doll stuffed with bran, and +forthwith declared everything to be hollow and wanted to "go into +a nunnery," had her counterpart in real life. Many full-grown +people are quite as morbidly unreasonable. There are those who +may be said to "enjoy bad health;" they regard it as a sort of +property. They can speak of "MY headache"--"MY backache," and so +forth, until in course of time it becomes their most cherished +possession. But perhaps it is the source to them of much coveted +sympathy, without which they might find themselves of +comparatively little importance in the world. + +We have to be on our guard against small troubles, which, by +encouraging, we are apt to magnify into great ones. Indeed, the +chief source of worry in the world is not real but imaginary evil +--small vexations and trivial afflictions. In the presence of a +great sorrow, all petty troubles disappear; but we are too ready +to take some cherished misery to our bosom, and to pet it there. +Very often it is the child of our fancy; and, forgetful of the +many means of happiness which lie within our reach, we indulge +this spoilt child of ours until it masters us. We shut the door +against cheerfulness, and surround ourselves with gloom. The +habit gives a colouring to our life. We grow querulous, moody, +and unsympathetic. Our conversation becomes full of regrets. We +are harsh in our judgment of others. We are unsociable, and think +everybody else is so. We make our breast a storehouse of pain, +which we inflict upon ourselves as well as upon others. + +This disposition is encouraged by selfishness: indeed, it is for +the most part selfishness unmingled, without any admixture of +sympathy or consideration for the feelings of those about us. It +is simply wilfulness in the wrong direction. It is wilful, +because it might be avoided. Let the necessitarians argue as they +may, freedom of will and action is the possession of every man and +woman. It is sometimes our glory, and very often it is our shame: +all depends upon the manner in which it is used. We can choose to +look at the bright side of things, or at the dark. We can follow +good and eschew evil thoughts. We can be wrongheaded and +wronghearted, or the reverse, as we ourselves determine. The +world will be to each one of us very much what we make it. +The cheerful are its real possessors, for the world belongs +to those who enjoy it. + +It must, however, be admitted that there are cases beyond the +reach of the moralist. Once, when a miserable-looking dyspeptic +called upon a leading physician and laid his case before him, +"Oh!" said the doctor, "you only want a good hearty laugh: +go and see Grimaldi." "Alas!" said the miserable patient, +"I am Grimaldi!" So, when Smollett, oppressed by disease, +travelled over Europe in the hope of finding health, he saw +everything through his own jaundiced eyes. "I'll tell it," +said Smellfungus, "to the world." "You had better tell it," +said Sterne, "to your physician." +The restless, anxious, dissatisfied temper, that is ever ready to +run and meet care half-way, is fatal to all happiness and peace of +mind. How often do we see men and women set themselves about as +if with stiff bristles, so that one dare scarcely approach them +without fear of being pricked! For want of a little occasional +command over one's temper, an amount of misery is occasioned in +society which is positively frightful. Thus enjoyment is turned +into bitterness, and life becomes like a journey barefooted +amongst thorns and briers and prickles. "Though sometimes small +evils," says Richard Sharp, "like invisible insects, inflict great +pain, and a single hair may stop a vast machine, yet the chief +secret of comfort lies in not suffering trifles to vex us; and in +prudently cultivating an undergrowth of small pleasures, since +very few great ones, alas! are let on long leases." (5) + +St. Francis de Sales treats the same topic from the Christian's +point of view. "How carefully," he says, "we should cherish the +little virtues which spring up at the foot of the Cross!" When +the saint was asked, "What virtues do you mean?" he replied: +"Humility, patience, meekness, benignity, bearing one another's +burden, condescension, softness of heart, cheerfulness, +cordiality, compassion, forgiving injuries, simplicity, candour-- +all, in short of that sort of little virtues. They, like +unobtrusive violets, love the shade; like them are sustained by +dew; and though, like them, they make little show, they shed a +sweet odour on all around." (6) + +And again he said: "If you would fall into any extreme, let it be +on the side of gentleness. The human mind is so constructed that +it resists rigour, and yields to softness. A mild word quenches +anger, as water quenches the rage of fire; and by benignity any +soil may be rendered fruitful. Truth, uttered with courtesy, +is heaping coals of fire on the head--or rather, throwing +roses in the face. How can we resist a foe whose weapons +are pearls and diamonds?" (7) + +Meeting evils by anticipation is not the way to overcome them. If +we perpetually carry our burdens about with us, they will soon +bear us down under their load. When evil comes, we must deal with +it bravely and hopefully. What Perthes wrote to a young man, who +seemed to him inclined to take trifles as well as sorrows too much +to heart, was doubtless good advice: "Go forward with hope and +confidence. This is the advice given thee by an old man, who has +had a full share of the burden and heat of life's day. We must +ever stand upright, happen what may, and for this end we must +cheerfully resign ourselves to the varied influences of this many- +coloured life. You may call this levity, and you are partly +right; for flowers and colours are but trifles light as air, but +such levity is a constituent portion of our human nature, without +which it would sink under the weight of time. While on earth we +must still play with earth, and with that which blooms and fades +upon its breast. The consciousness of this mortal life being but +the way to a higher goal, by no means precludes our playing with +it cheerfully; and, indeed, we must do so, otherwise our energy in +action will entirely fail." (8) + +Cheerfulness also accompanies patience, which is one of the main +conditions of happiness and success in life. "He that will be +served," says George Herbert, "must be patient." It was said of +the cheerful and patient King Alfred, that "good fortune +accompanied him like a gift of God." Marlborough's expectant +calmness was great, and a principal secret of his success as a +general. "Patience will overcome all things," he wrote to +Godolphin, in 1702. In the midst of a great emergency, while +baffled and opposed by his allies, he said, "Having done all that +is possible, we should submit with patience." + +Last and chiefest of blessings is Hope, the most common of +possessions; for, as Thales the philosopher said, "Even those who +have nothing else have hope." Hope is the great helper of the +poor. It has even been styled "the poor man's bread." It is also +the sustainer and inspirer of great deeds. It is recorded of +Alexander the Great, that when he succeeded to the throne of +Macedon, he gave away amongst his friends the greater part of the +estates which his father had left him; and when Perdiccas asked +him what he reserved for himself, Alexander answered, "The +greatest possession of all,--Hope!" + +The pleasures of memory, however great, are stale compared with +those of hope; for hope is the parent of all effort and endeavour; +and "every gift of noble origin is breathed upon by Hope's +perpetual breath." It may be said to be the moral engine that +moves the world, and keeps it in action; and at the end of all +there stands before us what Robertson of Ellon styled "The Great +Hope." "If it were not for Hope," said Byron, "where would the +Future be?--in hell! It is useless to say where the Present is, +for most of us know; and as for the Past, WHAT predominates in +memory?--Hope baffled. ERGO, in all human affairs it is Hope, +Hope, Hope!" (9) + + + +NOTES + +(1) Jeremy Taylor's 'Holy Living.' + +(2) 'Michelet's 'Life of Luther,' pp. 411-12. + +(3) Sir John Kaye's 'Lives of Indian Officers.' + +(4) 'Deontology,' pp. 130-1, 144. + +(5) 'Letters and Essays,' p. 67. + +(6) 'Beauties of St. Francis de Sales.' + +(7) Ibid. + +(8) 'Life of Perthes,' ii. 449. + +(9) Moore's 'Life of Byron,' 8vo. Ed., p. 483. + + + +CHAPTER IX.--MANNER--ART. + + + + "We must be gentle, now we are gentlemen."--SHAKSPEARE. + + "Manners are not idle, but the fruit + Of noble nature and of loyal mind."--TENNYSON. + +"A beautiful behaviour is better than a beautiful form; it gives a +higher pleasure than statues and pictures; it is the finest of the +fine arts."--EMERSON. + +"Manners are often too much neglected; they are most important to +men, no less than to women.... Life is too short to get over a +bad manner; besides, manners are the shadows of virtues."--THE +REV. SIDNEY SMITH. + + +Manner is one of the principal external graces of character. It +is the ornament of action, and often makes the commonest offices +beautiful by the way in which it performs them. It is a happy way +of doing things, adorning even the smallest details of life, and +contributing to render it, as a whole, agreeable and pleasant. + +Manner is not so frivolous or unimportant as some may think it to +be; for it tends greatly to facilitate the business of life, as +well as to sweeten and soften social intercourse. "Virtue +itself," says Bishop Middleton, "offends, when coupled with a +forbidding manner." + +Manner has a good deal to do with the estimation in which men are +held by the world; and it has often more influence in the +government of others than qualities of much greater depth and +substance. A manner at once gracious and cordial is among the +greatest aids to success, and many there are who fail for want of +it. (1) For a great deal depends upon first impressions; and +these are usually favourable or otherwise according to a man's +courteousness and civility. + +While rudeness and gruffness bar doors and shut hearts, kindness +and propriety of behaviour, in which good manners consist, act as +an "open sesame" everywhere. Doors unbar before them, and they +are a passport to the hearts of everybody, young and old. + +There is a common saying that "Manners make the man;" but this is +not so true as that "Man makes the manners." A man may be gruff, +and even rude, and yet be good at heart and of sterling character; +yet he would doubtless be a much more agreeable, and probably a +much more useful man, were he to exhibit that suavity of +disposition and courtesy of manner which always gives a finish +to the true gentleman. + +Mrs. Hutchinson, in the noble portraiture of her husband, to which +we have already had occasion to refer, thus describes his manly +courteousness and affability of disposition:- "I cannot say +whether he were more truly magnanimous or less proud; he never +disdained the meanest person, nor flattered the greatest; he had a +loving and sweet courtesy to the poorest, and would often employ +many spare hours with the commonest soldiers and poorest +labourers; but still so ordering his familiarity, that it never +raised them to a contempt, but entertained still at the same time +a reverence and love of him." (2) + +A man's manner, to a certain extent, indicates his character. It +is the external exponent of his inner nature. It indicates his +taste, his feelings, and his temper, as well as the society to +which he has been accustomed. There is a conventional manner, +which is of comparatively little importance; but the natural +manner, the outcome of natural gifts, improved by careful self- +culture, signifies a great deal. + +Grace of manner is inspired by sentiment, which is a source of no +slight enjoyment to a cultivated mind. Viewed in this light, +sentiment is of almost as much importance as talents and +acquirements, while it is even more influential in giving the +direction to a man s tastes and character. Sympathy is the golden +key that unlocks the hearts of others. It not only teaches +politeness and courtesy, but gives insight and unfolds wisdom, and +may almost be regarded as the crowning grace of humanity. + +Artificial rules of politeness are of very little use. What +passes by the name of "Etiquette" is often of the essence of +unpoliteness and untruthfulness. It consists in a great measure +of posture-making, and is easily seen through. Even at best, +etiquette is but a substitute for good manners, though it is often +but their mere counterfeit. + +Good manners consist, for the most part, in courteousness and +kindness. Politeness has been described as the art of showing, +by external signs, the internal regard we have for others. +But one may be perfectly polite to another without necessarily +having a special regard for him. Good manners are neither +more nor less than beautiful behaviour. It has been well said, +that "a beautiful form is better than a beautiful face, and +a beautiful behaviour is better than a beautiful form; it gives +a higher pleasure than statues or pictures--it is the finest +of the fine arts." + +The truest politeness comes of sincerity. It must be the outcome +of the heart, or it will make no lasting impression; for no amount +of polish can dispense with truthfulness. The natural character +must be allowed to appear, freed of its angularities and +asperities. Though politeness, in its best form, should (as St. +Francis de Sales says) resemble water--"best when clearest, most +simple, and without taste,"--yet genius in a man will always +cover many defects of manner, and much will be excused to the +strong and the original. Without genuineness and individuality, +human life would lose much of its interest and variety, as well as +its manliness and robustness of character. + +True courtesy is kind. It exhibits itself in the disposition to +contribute to the happiness of others, and in refraining from all +that may annoy them. It is grateful as well as kind, and readily +acknowledges kind actions. Curiously enough, Captain Speke found +this quality of character recognised even by the natives of Uganda +on the shores of Lake Nyanza, in the heart of Africa, where, he +says. "Ingratitude, or neglecting to thank a person for a benefit +conferred, is punishable." + +True politeness especially exhibits itself in regard for the +personality of others. A man will respect the individuality of +another if he wishes to be respected himself. He will have due +regard for his views and opinions, even though they differ from +his own. The well-mannered man pays a compliment to another, and +sometimes even secures his respect, by patiently listening to him. +He is simply tolerant and forbearant, and refrains from judging +harshly; and harsh judgments of others will almost invariably +provoke harsh judgments of ourselves. + +The unpolite impulsive man will, however, sometimes rather lose +his friend than his joke. He may surely be pronounced a very +foolish person who secures another's hatred at the price of a +moment's gratification. It was a saying of Brunel the engineer-- +himself one of the kindest-natured of men--that "spite and ill- +nature are among the most expensive luxuries in life." Dr. +Johnson once said: "Sir, a man has no more right to SAY an uncivil +thing than to ACT one--no more right to say a rude thing to +another than to knock him down." + +A sensible polite person does not assume to be better or wiser or +richer than his neighbour. He does not boast of his rank, or his +birth, or his country; or look down upon others because they have +not been born to like privileges with himself. He does not brag +of his achievements or of his calling, or "talk shop" whenever he +opens his mouth. On the contrary, in all that he says or does, he +will be modest, unpretentious, unassuming; exhibiting his true +character in performing rather than in boasting, in doing rather +than in talking. + +Want of respect for the feelings of others usually originates in +selfishness, and issues in hardness and repulsiveness of manner. +It may not proceed from malignity so much as from want of sympathy +and want of delicacy--a want of that perception of, and attention +to, those little and apparently trifling things by which pleasure +is given or pain occasioned to others. Indeed, it may be said +that in self-sacrificingness, so to speak, in the ordinary +intercourse of life, mainly consists the difference between being +well and ill bred. + +Without some degree of self-restraint in society, a man may be +found almost insufferable. No one has pleasure in holding +intercourse with such a person, and he is a constant source of +annoyance to those about him. For want of self-restraint, many +men are engaged all their lives in fighting with difficulties of +their own making, and rendering success impossible by their own +crossgrained ungentleness; whilst others, it may be much less +gifted, make their way and achieve success by simple patience, +equanimity, and self-control. + +It has been said that men succeed in life quite as much by their +temper as by their talents. However this may be, it is certain +that their happiness depends mainly on their temperament, +especially upon their disposition to be cheerful; upon their +complaisance, kindliness of manner, and willingness to oblige +others--details of conduct which are like the small-change in the +intercourse of life, and are always in request. + +Men may show their disregard of others in various unpolite ways-- +as, for instance, by neglect of propriety in dress, by the absence +of cleanliness, or by indulging in repulsive habits. The slovenly +dirty person, by rendering himself physically disagreeable, sets +the tastes and feelings of others at defiance, and is rude and +uncivil only under another form. + +David Ancillon, a Huguenot preacher of singular attractiveness, +who studied and composed his sermons with the greatest care, was +accustomed to say "that it was showing too little esteem for the +public to take no pains in preparation, and that a man who should +appear on a ceremonial-day in his nightcap and dressing-gown, +could not commit a greater breach of civility." + +The perfection of manner is ease--that it attracts no man's +notice as such, but is natural and unaffected. Artifice is +incompatible with courteous frankness of manner. Rochefoucauld +has said that "nothing so much prevents our being natural as the +desire of appearing so." Thus we come round again to sincerity +and truthfulness, which find their outward expression in +graciousness, urbanity, kindliness, and consideration for the +feelings of others. The frank and cordial man sets those about +him at their ease. He warms and elevates them by his presence, +and wins all hearts. Thus manner, in its highest form, like +character, becomes a genuine motive power. + +"The love and admiration," says Canon Kingsley, "which that truly +brave and loving man, Sir Sydney Smith, won from every one, rich +and poor, with whom he came in contact seems to have arisen from +the one fact, that without, perhaps, having any such conscious +intention, he treated rich and poor, his own servants and the +noblemen his guests, alike, and alike courteously, considerately, +cheerfully, affectionately--so leaving a blessing, and reaping a +blessing, wherever he went." + +Good manners are usually supposed to be the peculiar +characteristic of persons gently born and bred, and of persons +moving in the higher rather than in the lower spheres of society. +And this is no doubt to a great extent true, because of the more +favourable surroundings of the former in early life. But there is +no reason why the poorest classes should not practise good manners +towards each other as well as the richest. + +Men who toil with their hands, equally with those who do not, may +respect themselves and respect one another; and it is by their +demeanour to each other--in other words, by their manners--that +self-respect as well as mutual respect are indicated. There is +scarcely a moment in their lives, the enjoyment of which might not +be enhanced by kindliness of this sort--in the workshop, in the +street, or at home. The civil workman will exercise increased +power amongst his class, and gradually induce them to imitate him +by his persistent steadiness, civility, and kindness. Thus +Benjamin Franklin, when a working-man, is said to have reformed +the habits of an entire workshop. + +One may be polite and gentle with very little money in his purse. +Politeness goes far, yet costs nothing. It is the cheapest of all +commodities. It is the humblest of the fine arts, yet it is so +useful and so pleasure-giving, that it might almost be ranked +amongst the humanities. + +Every nation may learn something of others; and if there be one +thing more than another that the English working-class might +afford to copy with advantage from their Continental neighbours, +it is their politeness. The French and Germans, of even the +humblest classes, are gracious in manner, complaisant, cordial, +and well-bred. The foreign workman lifts his cap and respectfully +salutes his fellow-workman in passing. There is no sacrifice of +manliness in this, but grace and dignity. Even the lowest poverty +of the foreign workpeople is not misery, simply because it is +cheerful. Though not receiving one-half the income which our +working-classes do, they do not sink into wretchedness and drown +their troubles in drink; but contrive to make the best of life, +and to enjoy it even amidst poverty. + +Good taste is a true economist. It may be practised on small +means, and sweeten the lot of labour as well as of ease. It is +all the more enjoyed, indeed, when associated with industry and +the performance of duty. Even the lot of poverty is elevated +by taste. It exhibits itself in the economies of the household. +It gives brightness and grace to the humblest dwelling. It +produces refinement, it engenders goodwill, and creates an +atmosphere of cheerfulness. Thus good taste, associated with +kindliness, sympathy, and intelligence, may elevate and +adorn even the lowliest lot. + +The first and best school of manners, as of character, is always +the Home, where woman is the teacher. The manners of society at +large are but the reflex of the manners of our collective homes, +neither better nor worse. Yet, with all the disadvantages of +ungenial homes, men may practise self-culture of manner as of +intellect, and learn by good examples to cultivate a graceful and +agreeable behaviour towards others. Most men are like so many +gems in the rough, which need polishing by contact with other and +better natures, to bring out their full beauty and lustre. Some +have but one side polished, sufficient only to show the delicate +graining of the interior; but to bring out the full qualities of +the gem needs the discipline of experience, and contact with the +best examples of character in the intercourse of daily life. + +A good deal of the success of manner consists in tact, and it is +because women, on the whole, have greater tact than men, that they +prove its most influential teachers. They have more self- +restraint than men, and are naturally more gracious and polite. +They possess an intuitive quickness and readiness of action, have +a keener insight into character, and exhibit greater +discrimination and address. In matters of social detail, aptness +and dexterity come to them like nature; and hence well-mannered +men usually receive their best culture by mixing in the society of +gentle and adroit women. + +Tact is an intuitive art of manner, which carries one through a +difficulty better than either talent or knowledge. "Talent," says +a public writer, "is power: tact is skill. Talent is weight: tact +is momentum. Talent knows what to do: tact knows how to do it. +Talent makes a man respectable: tact makes him respected. Talent +is wealth: tact is ready-money." + +The difference between a man of quick tact and of no tact whatever +was exemplified in an interview which once took place between Lord +Palmerston and Mr. Behnes, the sculptor. At the last sitting +which Lord Palmerston gave him, Behnes opened the conversation +with--"Any news, my Lord, from France? How do we stand with +Louis Napoleon?" The Foreign Secretary raised his eyebrows for an +instant, and quietly replied, "Really, Mr. Behnes, I don't know: I +have not seen the newspapers!" Poor Behnes, with many excellent +qualities and much real talent, was one of the many men who +entirely missed their way in life through want of tact. + +Such is the power of manner, combined with tact, that Wilkes, one +of the ugliest of men, used to say, that in winning the graces of +a lady, there was not more than three days' difference between him +and the handsomest man in England. + +But this reference to Wilkes reminds us that too much importance +must not be attached to manner, for it does not afford any genuine +test of character. The well-mannered man may, like Wilkes, be +merely acting a part, and that for an immoral purpose. Manner, +like other fine arts, gives pleasure, and is exceedingly agreeable +to look upon; but it may be assumed as a disguise, as men "assume +a virtue though they have it not." It is but the exterior sign of +good conduct, but may be no more than skin-deep. The most highly- +polished person may be thoroughly depraved in heart; and his +superfine manners may, after all, only consist in pleasing +gestures and in fine phrases. + +On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that some of the +richest and most generous natures have been wanting in the graces +of courtesy and politeness. As a rough rind sometimes covers the +sweetest fruit, so a rough exterior often conceals a kindly and +hearty nature. The blunt man may seem even rude in manner, and +yet, at heart, be honest, kind, and gentle. + +John Knox and Martin Luther were by no means distinguished for +their urbanity. They had work to do which needed strong and +determined rather than well-mannered men. Indeed, they were both +thought to be unnecessarily harsh and violent in their manner. +"And who art thou," said Mary Queen of Scots to Knox, "that +presumest to school the nobles and sovereign of this realm?"-- +"Madam," replied Knox, "a subject born within the same." It is +said that his boldness, or roughness, more than once made Queen +Mary weep. When Regent Morton heard of this, he said, "Well, 'tis +better that women should weep than bearded men." + +As Knox was retiring from the Queen's presence on one occasion, he +overheard one of the royal attendants say to another, "He is not +afraid!" Turning round upon them, he said: "And why should the +pleasing face of a gentleman frighten me? I have looked on the +faces of angry men, and yet have not been afraid beyond measure." +When the Reformer, worn-out by excess of labour and anxiety, was +at length laid to his rest, the Regent, looking down into the open +grave, exclaimed, in words which made a strong impression from +their aptness and truth--"There lies he who never feared the +face of man!" + +Luther also was thought by some to be a mere compound of violence +and ruggedness. But, as in the case of Knox, the times in which +he lived were rude and violent; and the work he had to do could +scarcely have been accomplished with gentleness and suavity. To +rouse Europe from its lethargy, he had to speak and to write with +force, and even vehemence. Yet Luther's vehemence was only in +words. His apparently rude exterior covered a warm heart. In +private life he was gentle, loving, and affectionate. He was +simple and homely, even to commonness. Fond of all common +pleasures and enjoyments, he was anything but an austere man, or a +bigot; for he was hearty, genial, and even "jolly." Luther was +the common people's hero in his lifetime, and he remains so in +Germany to this day. + +Samuel Johnson was rude and often gruff in manner. But he had +been brought up in a rough school. Poverty in early life had made +him acquainted with strange companions. He had wandered in the +streets with Savage for nights together, unable between them to +raise money enough to pay for a bed. When his indomitable courage +and industry at length secured for him a footing in society, he +still bore upon him the scars of his early sorrows and struggles. +He was by nature strong and robust, and his experience made him +unaccommodating and self-asserting. When he was once asked why he +was not invited to dine out as Garrick was, he answered, "Because +great lords and ladies did not like to have their mouths stopped;" +and Johnson was a notorious mouth-stopper, though what he said was +always worth listening to. + +Johnson's companions spoke of him as "Ursa Major;" but, as +Goldsmith generously said of him, "No man alive has a more tender +heart; he has nothing of the bear about him but his skin." The +kindliness of Johnson's nature was shown on one occasion by the +manner in which he assisted a supposed lady in crossing Fleet +Street. He gave her his arm, and led her across, not observing +that she was in liquor at the time. But the spirit of the act was +not the less kind on that account. On the other hand, the conduct +of the bookseller on whom Johnson once called to solicit +employment, and who, regarding his athletic but uncouth person, +told him he had better "go buy a porter's knot and carry trunks," +in howsoever bland tones the advice might have been communicated, +was simply brutal. + +While captiousness of manner, and the habit of disputing and +contradicting everything said, is chilling and repulsive, the +opposite habit of assenting to, and sympathising with, every +statement made, or emotion expressed, is almost equally +disagreeable. It is unmanly, and is felt to be dishonest. "It may +seem difficult," says Richard Sharp, "to steer always between +bluntness and plain-dealing, between giving merited praise and +lavishing indiscriminate flattery; but it is very easy--good- +humour, kindheartedness, and perfect simplicity, being all that +are requisite to do what is right in the right way." (3) + +At the same time, many are unpolite--not because they mean to be +so, but because they are awkward, and perhaps know no better. +Thus, when Gibbon had published the second and third volumes of +his 'Decline and Fall,' the Duke of Cumberland met him one day, +and accosted him with, "How do you do, Mr. Gibbon? I see you +are always AT IT in the old way--SCRIBBLE, SCRIBBLE, SCRIBBLE!" +The Duke probably intended to pay the author a compliment, +but did not know how better to do it, than in this blunt and +apparently rude way. + +Again, many persons are thought to be stiff, reserved, and proud, +when they are only shy. Shyness is characteristic of most people +of Teutonic race. It has been styled "the English mania," but it +pervades, to a greater or less degree, all the Northern nations. +The ordinary Englishman, when he travels abroad, carries his +shyness with him. He is stiff, awkward, ungraceful, +undemonstrative, and apparently unsympathetic; and though he may +assume a brusqueness of manner, the shyness is there, and cannot +be wholly concealed. The naturally graceful and intensely social +French cannot understand such a character; and the Englishman is +their standing joke--the subject of their most ludicrous +caricatures. George Sand attributes the rigidity of the natives +of Albion to a stock of FLUIDE BRITANNIQUE which they carry about +with them, that renders them impassive under all circumstances, +and "as impervious to the atmosphere of the regions they traverse +as a mouse in the centre of an exhausted receiver." (4) + +The average Frenchman or Irishman excels the average Englishman, +German, or American in courtesy and ease of manner, simply because +it is his nature. They are more social and less self-dependent +than men of Teutonic origin, more demonstrative and less reticent; +they are more communicative, conversational, and freer in their +intercourse with each other in all respects; whilst men of German +race are comparatively stiff, reserved, shy, and awkward. At the +same time, a people may exhibit ease, gaiety, and sprightliness of +character, and yet possess no deeper qualities calculated to +inspire respect. They may have every grace of manner, and yet be +heartless, frivolous, selfish. The character may be on the +surface only, and without any solid qualities for a foundation. + +There can be no doubt as to which of the two sorts of people--the +easy and graceful, or the stiff and awkward--it is most agreeable +to meet, either in business, in society, or in the casual +intercourse of life. Which make the fastest friends, the truest +men of their word, the most conscientious performers of their +duty, is an entirely different matter. + +The dry GAUCHE Englishman--to use the French phrase, L'ANGLAIS +EMPETRE--is certainly a somewhat disagreeable person to meet at +first. He looks as if he had swallowed a poker. He is shy +himself, and the cause of shyness in others. He is stiff, not +because he is proud, but because he is shy; and he cannot shake it +off, even if he would. Indeed, we should not be surprised to find +that even the clever writer who describes the English Philistine +in all his enormity of awkward manner and absence of grace, were +himself as shy as a bat. + +When two shy men meet, they seem like a couple of icicles. They +sidle away and turn their backs on each other in a room, or when +travelling creep into the opposite corners of a railway-carriage. +When shy Englishmen are about to start on a journey by railway, +they walk along the train, to discover an empty compartment in +which to bestow themselves; and when once ensconced, they inwardly +hate the next man who comes in. So; on entering the dining-room +of their club, each shy man looks out for an unoccupied table, +until sometimes--all the tables in the room are occupied by +single diners. All this apparent unsociableness is merely shyness +--the national characteristic of the Englishman. + +"The disciples of Confucius," observes Mr. Arthur Helps, "say that +when in the presence of the prince, his manner displayed +RESPECTFUL UNEASINESS. There could hardly be given any two words +which more fitly describe the manner of most Englishmen when in +society." Perhaps it is due to this feeling that Sir Henry +Taylor, in his 'Statesman,' recommends that, in the management of +interviews, the minister should be as "near to the door" as +possible; and, instead of bowing his visitor out, that he should +take refuge, at the end of an interview, in the adjoining room. +"Timid and embarrassed men," he says, "will sit as if they were +rooted to the spot, when they are conscious that they have to +traverse the length of a room in their retreat. In every case, an +interview will find a more easy and pleasing termination WHEN THE +DOOR IS AT HAND as the last words are spoken." (5) + +The late Prince Albert, one of the gentlest and most amiable, was +also one of the most retiring of men. He struggled much against +his sense of shyness, but was never able either to conquer or +conceal it. His biographer, in explaining its causes, says: "It +was the shyness of a very delicate nature, that is not sure it +will please, and is without the confidence and the vanity which +often go to form characters that are outwardly more genial." (6) + +But the Prince shared this defect with some of the greatest of +Englishmen. Sir Isaac Newton was probably the shyest man of his +age. He kept secret for a time some of his greatest discoveries, +for fear of the notoriety they might bring him. His discovery of +the Binomial Theorem and its most important applications, as well +as his still greater discovery of the Law of Gravitation, were not +published for years after they were made; and when he communicated +to Collins his solution of the theory of the moon's rotation round +the earth, he forbade him to insert his name in connection with +it in the 'Philosophical Transactions,' saying: "It would, +perhaps, increase my acquaintance--the thing which I chiefly +study to decline." + +From all that can be learnt of Shakspeare, it is to be inferred +that he was an exceedingly shy man. The manner in which his plays +were sent into the world--for it is not known that he edited or +authorized the publication of a single one of them--and the dates +at which they respectively appeared, are mere matters of +conjecture. His appearance in his own plays in second and even +third-rate parts--his indifference to reputation, and even his +apparent aversion to be held in repute by his contemporaries--his +disappearance from London (the seat and centre of English +histrionic art) so soon as he had realised a moderate competency-- +and his retirement about the age of forty, for the remainder of +his days, to a life of obscurity in a small town in the midland +counties--all seem to unite in proving the shrinking nature of +the man, and his unconquerable shyness. + +It is also probable that, besides being shy--and his shyness may, +like that of Byron, have been increased by his limp--Shakspeare +did not possess in any high degree the gift of hope. It is a +remarkable circumstance, that whilst the great dramatist has, in +the course of his writings, copiously illustrated all other gifts, +affections, and virtues, the passages are very rare in which Hope +is mentioned, and then it is usually in a desponding and +despairing tone, as when he says: + + "The miserable hath no other medicine, But only Hope." + +Many of his sonnets breathe the spirit of despair and +hopelessness. (7) He laments his lameness; (8) apologizes for his +profession as an actor; (9) expresses his "fear of trust" in +himself, and his hopeless, perhaps misplaced, affection; (10) +anticipates a "coffin'd doom;" and utters his profoundly pathetic +cry "for restful death." + +It might naturally be supposed that Shakspeare's profession of an +actor, and his repeated appearances in public, would speedily +overcome his shyness, did such exist. But inborn shyness, when +strong, is not so easily conquered. (11) Who could have believed +that the late Charles Mathews, who entertained crowded houses +night after night, was naturally one of the shyest of men? He +would even make long circuits (lame though he was) along the +byelanes of London to avoid recognition. His wife says of him, +that he looked "sheepish" and confused if recognised; and that his +eyes would fall, and his colour would mount, if he heard his name +even whispered in passing along the streets. (12) + +Nor would it at first sight have been supposed that Lord Byron was +affected with shyness, and yet he was a victim to it; his +biographer relating that, while on a visit to Mrs. Pigot, at +Southwell, when he saw strangers approaching, he would instantly +jump out of the window, and escape on to the lawn to avoid them. + +But a still more recent and striking instance is that of the late +Archbishop Whately, who, in the early part of his life, was +painfully oppressed by the sense of shyness. When at Oxford, his +white rough coat and white hat obtained for him the soubriquet of +"The White Bear;" and his manners, according to his own account of +himself, corresponded with the appellation. He was directed, by +way of remedy, to copy the example of the best-mannered men he met +in society; but the attempt to do this only increased his shyness, +and he failed. He found that he was all the while thinking of +himself, rather than of others; whereas thinking of others, rather +than of one's self, is of the true essence of politeness. + +Finding that he was making no progress, Whately was driven to +utter despair; and then he said to himself: "Why should I endure +this torture all my life to no purpose? I would bear it still if +there was any success to be hoped for; but since there is not, I +will die quietly, without taking any more doses. I have tried my +very utmost, and find that I must be as awkward as a bear all my +life, in spite of it. I will endeavour to think as little about +it as a bear, and make up my mind to endure what can't be cured." +From this time forth he struggled to shake off all consciousness +as to manner, and to disregard censure as much as possible. In +adopting this course, he says: "I succeeded beyond my +expectations; for I not only got rid of the personal suffering of +shyness, but also of most of those faults of manner which +consciousness produces; and acquired at once an easy and natural +manner--careless, indeed, in the extreme, from its originating in +a stern defiance of opinion, which I had convinced myself must be +ever against me; rough and awkward, for smoothness and grace are +quite out of my way, and, of course, tutorially pedantic; but +unconscious, and therefore giving expression to that goodwill +towards men which I really feel; and these, I believe, are +the main points." (13) + +Washington, who was an Englishman in his lineage, was also one in +his shyness. He is described incidentally by Mr. Josiah Quincy, +as "a little stiff in his person, not a little formal in his +manner, and not particularly at ease in the presence of strangers. +He had the air of a country gentleman not accustomed to mix much +in society, perfectly polite, but not easy in his address and +conversation, and not graceful in his movements." + +Although we are not accustomed to think of modern Americans as +shy, the most distinguished American author of our time was +probably the shyest of men. Nathaniel Hawthorne was shy to the +extent of morbidity. We have observed him, when a stranger +entered the room where he was, turn his back for the purpose of +avoiding recognition. And yet, when the crust of his shyness was +broken, no man could be more cordial and genial than Hawthorne. + +We observe a remark in one of Hawthorne's lately-published +'Notebooks,' (14) that on one occasion he met Mr. Helps in society, +and found him "cold." And doubtless Mr. Helps thought the same of +him. It was only the case of two shy men meeting, each thinking +the other stiff and reserved, and parting before their mutual film +of shyness had been removed by a little friendly intercourse. +Before pronouncing a hasty judgment in such cases, it would be +well to bear in mind the motto of Helvetius, which Bentham says +proved such a real treasure to him: "POUR AIMER LES HOMMES, IL +FAUT ATTENDRE PEU." + +We have thus far spoken of shyness as a defect. But there is +another way of looking at it; for even shyness has its bright +side, and contains an element of good. Shy men and shy races are +ungraceful and undemonstrative, because, as regards society at +large, they are comparatively unsociable. They do not possess +those elegances of manner, acquired by free intercourse, which +distinguish the social races, because their tendency is to shun +society rather than to seek it. They are shy in the presence of +strangers, and shy even in their own families. They hide their +affections under a robe of reserve, and when they do give way to +their feelings, it is only in some very hidden inner-chamber. And +yet the feelings ARE there, and not the less healthy and genuine +that they are not made the subject of exhibition to others. + +It was not a little characteristic of the ancient Germans, that +the more social and demonstrative peoples by whom they were +surrounded should have characterised them as the NIEMEC, or Dumb +men. And the same designation might equally apply to the modern +English, as compared, for example, with their nimbler, more +communicative and vocal, and in all respects more social +neighbours, the modern French and Irish. + +But there is one characteristic which marks the English people, as +it did the races from which they have mainly sprung, and that is +their intense love of Home. Give the Englishman a home, and he is +comparatively indifferent to society. For the sake of a holding +which he can call his own, he will cross the seas, plant himself +on the prairie or amidst the primeval forest, and make for himself +a home. The solitude of the wilderness has no fears for him; the +society of his wife and family is sufficient, and he cares for no +other. Hence it is that the people of Germanic origin, from whom +the English and Americans have alike sprung, make the best of +colonizers, and are now rapidly extending themselves as emigrants +and settlers in all parts of the habitable globe. + +The French have never made any progress as colonizers, mainly +because of their intense social instincts--the secret of their +graces of manner,--and because they can never forget that they +are Frenchmen. (15) It seemed at one time within the limits of +probability that the French would occupy the greater part of the +North American continent. From Lower Canada their line of forts +extended up the St. Lawrence, and from Fond du Lac on Lake +Superior, along the River St. Croix, all down the Mississippi, to +its mouth at New Orleans. But the great, self-reliant, +industrious "Niemec," from a fringe of settlements along the +seacoast, silently extended westward, settling and planting +themselves everywhere solidly upon the soil; and nearly all that +now remains of the original French occupation of America, is the +French colony of Acadia, in Lower Canada. + +And even there we find one of the most striking illustrations of +that intense sociability of the French which keeps them together, +and prevents their spreading over and planting themselves firmly +in a new country, as it is the instinct of the men of Teutonic +race to do. While, in Upper Canada, the colonists of English and +Scotch descent penetrate the forest and the wilderness, each +settler living, it may be, miles apart from his nearest neighbour, +the Lower Canadians of French descent continue clustered together +in villages, usually consisting of a line of houses on either side +of the road, behind which extend their long strips of farm-land, +divided and subdivided to an extreme tenuity. They willingly +submit to all the inconveniences of this method of farming for the +sake of each other's society, rather than betake themselves to the +solitary backwoods, as English, Germans, and Americans so readily +do. Indeed, not only does the American backwoodsman become +accustomed to solitude, but he prefers it. And in the Western +States, when settlers come too near him, and the country seems to +become "overcrowded," he retreats before the advance of society, +and, packing up his "things" in a waggon, he sets out cheerfully, +with his wife and family, to found for himself a new home in +the Far West. + +Thus the Teuton, because of his very shyness, is the true +colonizer. English, Scotch, Germans, and Americans are alike +ready to accept solitude, provided they can but establish a home +and maintain a family. Thus their comparative indifference to +society has tended to spread this race over the earth, to till and +to subdue it; while the intense social instincts of the French, +though issuing in much greater gracefulness of manner, has stood +in their way as colonizers; so that, in the countries in which +they have planted themselves--as in Algiers and elsewhere--they +have remained little more than garrisons. (16) + +There are other qualities besides these, which grow out of the +comparative unsociableness of the Englishman. His shyness throws +him back upon himself, and renders him self-reliant and self- +dependent. Society not being essential to his happiness, he takes +refuge in reading, in study, in invention; or he finds pleasure in +industrial work, and becomes the best of mechanics. He does not +fear to entrust himself to the solitude of the ocean, and he +becomes a fisherman, a sailor, a discoverer. Since the early +Northmen scoured the northern seas, discovered America, and sent +their fleets along the shores of Europe and up the Mediterranean, +the seamanship of the men of Teutonic race has always been +in the ascendant. + +The English are inartistic for the same reason that they are +unsociable. They may make good colonists, sailors, and mechanics; +but they do not make good singers, dancers, actors, artistes, or +modistes. They neither dress well, act well, speak well, nor +write well. They want style--they want elegance. What they have +to do they do in a straightforward manner, but without grace. +This was strikingly exhibited at an International Cattle +Exhibition held at Paris a few years ago. At the close of the +Exhibition, the competitors came up with the prize animals to +receive the prizes. First came a gay and gallant Spaniard, a +magnificent man, beautifully dressed, who received a prize of the +lowest class with an air and attitude that would have become a +grandee of the highest order. Then came Frenchmen and Italians, +full of grace, politeness, and CHIC--themselves elegantly +dressed, and their animals decorated to the horns with flowers and +coloured ribbons harmoniously blended. And last of all came the +exhibitor who was to receive the first prize--a slouching man, +plainly dressed, with a pair of farmer's gaiters on, and without +even a flower in his buttonhole. "Who is he?" asked the +spectators. "Why, he is the Englishman," was the reply. "The +Englishman!--that the representative of a great country!" was the +general exclamation. But it was the Englishman all over. He was +sent there, not to exhibit himself, but to show "the best beast," +and he did it, carrying away the first prize. Yet he would have +been nothing the worse for the flower in his buttonhole. + +To remedy this admitted defect of grace and want of artistic taste +in the English people, a school has sprung up amongst us for the +more general diffusion of fine art. The Beautiful has now its +teachers and preachers, and by some it is almost regarded in the +light of a religion. "The Beautiful is the Good"--"The Beautiful +is the True"--"The Beautiful is the priest of the Benevolent," +are among their texts. It is believed that by the study of art +the tastes of the people may be improved; that by contemplating +objects of beauty their nature will become purified; and that by +being thereby withdrawn from sensual enjoyments, their character +will be refined and elevated. + +But though such culture is calculated to be elevating and +purifying in a certain degree, we must not expect too much from +it. Grace is a sweetener and embellisher of life, and as such is +worthy of cultivation. Music, painting, dancing, and the fine +arts, are all sources of pleasure; and though they may not be +sensual, yet they are sensuous, and often nothing more. The +cultivation of a taste for beauty of form or colour, of sound or +attitude, has no necessary effect upon the cultivation of the mind +or the development of the character. The contemplation of fine +works of art will doubtless improve the taste, and excite +admiration; but a single noble action done in the sight of men +will more influence the mind, and stimulate the character to +imitation, than the sight of miles of statuary or acres of +pictures. For it is mind, soul, and heart--not taste or art-- +that make men great. + +It is indeed doubtful whether the cultivation of art--which +usually ministers to luxury--has done so much for human progress +as is generally supposed. It is even possible that its too +exclusive culture may effeminate rather than strengthen the +character, by laying it more open to the temptations of the +senses. "It is the nature of the imaginative temperament +cultivated by the arts," says Sir Henry Taylor, "to undermine the +courage, and, by abating strength of character, to render men more +easily subservient--SEQUACES, CEREOS, ET AD MANDATA DUCTILES." +(17) The gift of the artist greatly differs from that of the +thinker; his highest idea is to mould his subject--whether it be +of painting, or music, or literature--into that perfect grace of +form in which thought (it may not be of the deepest) finds its +apotheosis and immortality. + +Art has usually flourished most during the decadence of nations, +when it has been hired by wealth as the minister of luxury. +Exquisite art and degrading corruption were contemporary in Greece +as well as in Rome. Phidias and Iktinos had scarcely completed +the Parthenon, when the glory of Athens had departed; Phidias died +in prison; and the Spartans set up in the city the memorials of +their own triumph and of Athenian defeat. It was the same in +ancient Rome, where art was at its greatest height when the people +were in their most degraded condition. Nero was an artist, as +well as Domitian, two of the greatest monsters of the Empire. +If the "Beautiful" had been the "Good," Commodus must have +been one of the best of men. But according to history he was +one of the worst. + +Again, the greatest period of modern Roman art was that in which +Pope Leo X. flourished, of whose reign it has been said, that +"profligacy and licentiousness prevailed amongst the people and +clergy, as they had done almost uncontrolled ever since the +pontificate of Alexander VI." In like manner, the period at which +art reached its highest point in the Low Countries was that which +immediately succeeded the destruction of civil and religious +liberty, and the prostration of the national life under the +despotism of Spain. If art could elevate a nation, and the +contemplation of The Beautiful were calculated to make men The +Good--then Paris ought to contain a population of the wisest and +best of human beings. Rome also is a great city of art; and yet +there, the VIRTUS or valour of the ancient Romans has +characteristically degenerated into VERTU, or a taste for +knicknacks; whilst, according to recent accounts, the city itself +is inexpressibly foul. (18) + +Art would sometimes even appear to have a close connection with +dirt; and it is said of Mr. Ruskin, that when searching for works +of art in Venice, his attendant in his explorations would sniff an +ill-odour, and when it was strong would say, "Now we are coming to +something very old and fine!"--meaning in art. (19) A little +common education in cleanliness, where it is wanting, would +probably be much more improving, as well as wholesome, than any +amount of education in fine art. Ruffles are all very well, but +it is folly to cultivate them to the neglect of the shirt. + +Whilst, therefore, grace of manner, politeness of behaviour, +elegance of demeanour, and all the arts that contribute to make +life pleasant and beautiful, are worthy of cultivation, it must +not be at the expense of the more solid and enduring qualities of +honesty, sincerity, and truthfulness. The fountain of beauty must +be in the heart; more than in the eye, and if art do not tend to +produce beautiful life and noble practice, it will be of +comparatively little avail. Politeness of manner is not worth +much, unless accompanied by polite action. Grace may be but skin- +deep--very pleasant and attractive, and yet very heartless. Art +is a source of innocent enjoyment, and an important aid to higher +culture; but unless it leads to higher culture, it will probably +be merely sensuous. And when art is merely sensuous, it is +enfeebling and demoralizing rather than strengthening or +elevating. Honest courage is of greater worth than any amount of +grace; purity is better than elegance; and cleanliness of body, +mind, and heart, than any amount of fine art. + +In fine, while the cultivation of the graces is not to be +neglected, it should ever be held in mind that there is something +far higher and nobler to be aimed at--greater than pleasure, +greater than art, greater than wealth, greater than power, greater +than intellect, greater than genius--and that is, purity and +excellence of character. Without a solid sterling basis of +individual goodness, all the grace, elegance, and art in the world +would fail to save or to elevate a people. + + + +NOTES + +(1) Locke thought it of greater importance that an educator of youth +should be well-bred and well-tempered, than that he should be +either a thorough classicist or man of science. Writing to Lord +Peterborough on his son's education, Locke said: "Your Lordship +would have your son's tutor a thorough scholar, and I think it not +much matter whether he be any scholar or no: if he but understand +Latin well, and have a general scheme of the sciences, I think +that enough. But I would have him WELL-BRED and WELL-TEMPERED." + +(2) Mrs. Hutchinson's 'Memoir of the Life of Lieut.-Colonel +Hutchinson,' p. 32. + +(3) 'Letters and Essays,' p. 59. + +(4) 'Lettres d'un Voyageur.' + +(5) Sir Henry Taylor's 'Statesman,' p. 59. + +(6) Introduction to the 'Principal Speeches and Addresses of His Royal +Highness the Prince Consort,' 1862. + +(7) "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, + I all alone beween my outcast state, + And troubled deaf heaven with my bootless cries, + And look upon myself and curse my fate; + WISHING ME LIKE TO ONE MORE RICH IN HOPE, + Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, + Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, + With what I most enjoy, contented least; + Yet in these thoughts, MYSELF ALMOST DESPISING, + Haply I think on thee," &c.--SONNET XXIX. + + "So I, MADE LAME by sorrow's dearest spite," &c.--SONNET XXXVI + +(8) "And strength, by LIMPING sway disabled," &c.--SONNET LXVI. + + "Speak of MY LAMENESS, and I straight will halt."--SONNET LXXXIX. + +(9) "Alas! 'tis true, I have gone here and there, + And MADE MYSELF A MOTLEY TO THE VIEW, + Gored mine own thoughts, sold cheap what is most dear, + Made old offences of affections new," &c.--SONNET CX. + + "Oh, for my sake do you with fortune chide! + The guilty goddess of my harmful deeds, + That did not better for my life provide, + THAN PUBLIC MEANS, WHICH PUBLIC MANNERS BREED; + Thence comes it that my name receives a brand, + And almost thence my nature is subdued, + To what it works in like the dyer's hand," &c.--SONNET CXI. + +(10) "In our two loves there is but one respect, + Though in our loves a separable spite, + Which though it alter not loves sole effect; + Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love's delight, + I may not evermore acknowledge thee, + Lest MY BEWAILED GUILT SHOULD DO THEE SHAME."--SONNET XXXVI. + +(11) It is related of Garrick, that when subpoenaed on Baretti's trial, +and required to give his evidence before the court--though he had +been accustomed for thirty years to act with the greatest self- +possession in the presence of thousands--he became so perplexed +and confused, that he was actually sent from the witness-box by +the judge, as a man from whom no evidence could be obtained. + +(12)Mrs. Mathews' 'Life and Correspondence of Charles Mathews,' (Ed. +1860) p. 232. + +(13) Archbishop Whately's 'Commonplace Book.' + +(14) Emerson is said to have had Nathaniel Hawthorne in his mind when +writing the following passage in his 'Society and Solitude:'-- +"The most agreeable compliment you could pay him was, to imply +that you had not observed him in a house or a street where you had +met him. Whilst he suffered at being seen where he was, he +consoled himself with the delicious thought of the inconceivable +number of places where he was not. All he wished of his tailor +was to provide that sober mean of colour and cut which would never +detain the eye for a moment.... He had a remorse, running to +despair, of his social GAUCHERIES, and walked miles and miles to +get the twitchings out of his face, and the starts and shrugs out +of his arms and shoulders. 'God may forgive sins,' he said, 'but +awkwardness has no forgiveness in heaven or earth.'" + +(15) In a series of clever articles in the REVUE DES DEUX MONDES, +entitled, 'Six mille Lieues a toute Vapeur,' giving a description +of his travels in North America, Maurice Sand keenly observed the +comparatively anti-social proclivities of the American compared +with the Frenchman. The one, he says, is inspired by the spirit +of individuality, the other by the spirit of society. In America +he sees the individual absorbing society; as in France he sees +society absorbing the individual. "Ce peuple Anglo-Saxon," he +says, "qui trouvait devant lui la terre, l'instrument de travail, +sinon inepuisable, du mons inepuise, s'est mis a l'exploiter sous +l'inspiration de l'egoisme; et nous autres Francais, nous n'avons +rien su en faire, parceque NOUS NE POUVONS RIEN DANS +L'ISOLEMENT.... L'Americain supporte la solitude avec un +stoicisme admirable, mais effrayant; il ne l'aime pas, il ne songe +qu'a la detruire.... Le Francais est tout autre. Il aime son +parent, son ami, son compagnon, et jusqu'a son voisin d'omnibus ou +de theatre, si sa figure lui est sympathetique. Pourquoi? Parce +qu'il le regarde et cherche son ame, parce qu'il vit dans son +semblable autant qu'en lui-meme. Quand il est longtemps seul, il +deperit, et quand il est toujours seul, it meurt." + +All this is perfectly true, and it explains why the comparatively +unsociable Germans, English, and Americans, are spreading over the +earth, while the intensely sociable Frenchmen, unable to enjoy +life without each other's society, prefer to stay at home, and +France fails to extend itself beyond France. + + +(16) The Irish have, in many respects, the same strong social instincts +as the French. In the United States they cluster naturally in the +towns, where they have their "Irish Quarters," as in England. +They are even more Irish there than at home, and can no more +forget that they are Irishmen than the French can that they are +Frenchmen. "I deliberately assert," says Mr. Maguire, in his +recent work on 'The Irish in America,' "that it is not within the +power of language to describe adequately, much less to exaggerate, +the evils consequent on the unhappy tendency of the Irish to +congregate in the large towns of America." It is this intense +socialism of the Irish that keeps them in a comparatively hand-to- +mouth condition in all the States of the Union. + +(17) 'The Statesman,' p. 35. + +(18) Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his 'First Impressions of France and +Italy,' says his opinion of the uncleanly character of the modern +Romans is so unfavourable that he hardly knows how to express it +"But the fact is that through the Forum, and everywhere out of the +commonest foot-track and roadway, you must look well to your +steps.... Perhaps there is something in the minds of the people +of these countries that enables them to dissever small ugliness +from great sublimity and beauty. They spit upon the glorious +pavement of St. Peter's, and wherever else they like; they place +paltry-looking wooden confessionals beneath its sublime arches, +and ornament them with cheap little coloured prints of the +Crucifixion; they hang tin hearts, and other tinsel and trumpery, +at the gorgeous shrines of the saints, in chapels that are +encrusted with gems, or marbles almost as precious; they put +pasteboard statues of saints beneath the dome of the Pantheon;-- +in short, they let the sublime and the ridiculous come close +together, and are not in the least troubled by the proximity." + +(19) Edwin Chadwick's 'Address to the Economic Science and Statistic +Section,' British Association (Meeting, 1862). + + + +CHAPTER X--COMPANIONSHIP OF BOOKS. + + + + "Books, we know, + Are a substantial world, both pure and good, + Round which, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood, + Our pastime and our happiness can grow."-- WORDSWORTH. + +"Not only in the common speech of men, but in all art too--which +is or should be the concentrated and conserved essence of what men +can speak and show--Biography is almost the one thing needful" + --CARLYLE. + + +"I read all biographies with intense interest. Even a man without +a heart, like Cavendish, I think about, and read about, and dream +about, and picture to myself in all possible ways, till he grows +into a living being beside me, and I put my feet into his shoes, +and become for the time Cavendish, and think as he thought, and do +as he did."--GEORGE WILSON. + + "My thoughts are with the dead; with them + I live in long-past years; + Their virtues love, their faults condemn; + Partake their hopes and fears; + And from their lessons seek and find + Instruction with a humble mind."--SOUTHEY. + +A man may usually be known by the books he reads, as well as by +the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as +well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, +whether it be of books or of men. + +A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same to- +day that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most +patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back +upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us +with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and +comforting and consoling us in age. + +Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love +they have for a book--just as two persons sometimes discover a +friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third. There +is an old proverb, "Love me, love my dog." But there is more +wisdom in this: "Love me, love my book." The book is a truer and +higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathise with +each other through their favourite author. They live in him +together, and he in them. + +"Books," said Hazlitt, "wind into the heart; the poet's verse +slides into the current of our blood. We read them when young, we +remember them when old. We read there of what has happened to +others; we feel that it has happened to ourselves. They are to be +had everywhere cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books. +We owe everything to their authors, on this side barbarism." + +A good book is often the best urn of a life, enshrining the best +thoughts of which that life was capable; for the world of a man's +life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus +the best books are treasuries of good words and golden thoughts, +which, remembered and cherished, become our abiding companions and +comforters. "They are never alone," said Sir Philip Sidney, "that +are accompanied by noble thoughts." The good and true thought may +in time of temptation be as an angel of mercy purifying and +guarding the soul. It also enshrines the germs of action, for +good words almost invariably inspire to good works. + +Thus Sir Henry Lawrence prized above all other compositions +Wordsworth's 'Character of the Happy Warrior,' which he +endeavoured to embody in his own life. It was ever before him as +an exemplar. He thought of it continually, and often quoted it to +others. His biographer says: "He tried to conform his own life +and to assimilate his own character to it; and he succeeded, as +all men succeed who are truly in earnest." (1) + +Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most +lasting products of human effort. Temples crumble into ruin; +pictures and statues decay; but books survive. Time is of no +account with great thoughts, which are as fresh to-day as when +they first passed through their authors' minds ages ago. What was +then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from +the printed page. The only effect of time has been to sift and +winnow out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long +survive but what is really good. (2) + +Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the +presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what +they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we +are participators in their thoughts; we sympathise with them, +enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, +and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the +scenes which they describe. + +The great and good do not die, even in this world. Embalmed in +books their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It +is an intellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever remain +under the influence of the great men of old: + + "The dead but sceptred sovrans, who still rule + Our spirits from their urns." + +The imperial intellects of the world are as much alive now as they +were ages ago. Homer still lives; and though his personal history +is hidden in the mists of antiquity, his poems are as fresh to-day +as if they had been newly written. Plato still teaches his +transcendent philosophy; Horace, Virgil, and Dante still sing as +when they lived; Shakspeare is not dead: his body was buried in +1616, but his mind is as much alive in England now, and his +thought as far-reaching, as in the time of the Tudors. + +The humblest and poorest may enter the society of these great +spirits without being thought intrusive. All who can read have +got the ENTREE. Would you laugh?--Cervantes or Rabelais will +laugh with you. Do you grieve?--there is Thomas a Kempis or +Jeremy Taylor to grieve with and console you. Always it is to +books, and the spirits of great men embalmed in them, that we +turn, for entertainment, for instruction and solace--in joy and +in sorrow, as in prosperity and in adversity. + +Man himself is, of all things in the world, the most interesting +to man. Whatever relates to human life--its experiences, its +joys, its sufferings, and its achievements--has usually +attractions for him beyond all else. Each man is more or less +interested in all other men as his fellow-creatures--as members +of the great family of humankind; and the larger a man's culture, +the wider is the range of his sympathies in all that affects the +welfare of his race. + +Men's interest in each other as individuals manifests itself in a +thousand ways--in the portraits which they paint, in the busts +which they carve, in the narratives which they relate of each +other. "Man," says Emerson, "can paint, or make, or think, +nothing but Man." Most of all is this interest shown in the +fascination which personal history possesses for him. "Man s +sociality of nature," says Carlyle, "evinces itself, in spite of +all that can be said, with abundance of evidence, by this one +fact, were there no other: the unspeakable delight he takes +in Biography." + +Great, indeed, is the human interest felt in biography! What are +all the novels that find such multitudes of readers, but so many +fictitious biographies? What are the dramas that people crowd to +see, but so much acted biography? Strange that the highest genius +should be employed on the fictitious biography, and so much +commonplace ability on the real! + +Yet the authentic picture of any human being's life and experience +ought to possess an interest greatly beyond that which is +fictitious, inasmuch as it has the charm of reality. Every person +may learn something from the recorded life of another; and even +comparatively trivial deeds and sayings may be invested with +interest, as being the outcome of the lives of such beings +as we ourselves are. + +The records of the lives of good men are especially useful. They +influence our hearts, inspire us with hope, and set before us +great examples. And when men have done their duty through life in +a great spirit, their influence will never wholly pass away. "The +good life," says George Herbert, "is never out of season." + +Goethe has said that there is no man so commonplace that a wise +man may not learn something from him. Sir Walter Scott could not +travel in a coach without gleaning some information or discovering +some new trait of character in his companions. (3) Dr. Johnson +once observed that there was not a person in the streets but he +should like to know his biography--his experiences of life, his +trials, his difficulties, his successes, and his failures. How +much more truly might this be said of the men who have made their +mark in the world's history, and have created for us that great +inheritance of civilization of which we are the possessors! +Whatever relates to such men--to their habits, their manners, +their modes of living, their personal history, their conversation, +their maxims, their virtues, or their greatness--is always full +of interest, of instruction, of encouragement, and of example. + +The great lesson of Biography is to show what man can be and do at +his best. A noble life put fairly on record acts like an +inspiration to others. It exhibits what life is capable of being +made. It refreshes our spirit, encourages our hopes, gives us new +strength and courage and faith--faith in others as well as in +ourselves. It stimulates our aspirations, rouses us to action, +and incites us to become co-partners with them in their work. +To live with such men in their biographies, and to be inspired +by their example, is to live with the best of men, and to mix +in the best of company. + +At the head of all biographies stands the Great Biography, the +Book of Books. And what is the Bible, the most sacred and +impressive of all books--the educator of youth, the guide of +manhood, and the consoler of age--but a series of biographies of +great heroes and patriarchs, prophets, kings, and judges, +culminating in the greatest biography of all, the Life embodied in +the New Testament? How much have the great examples there set +forth done for mankind! How many have drawn from them their +truest strength, their highest wisdom, their best nurture and +admonition! Truly does a great Roman Catholic writer describe the +Bible as a book whose words "live in the ear like a music that can +never be forgotten--like the sound of church bells which the +convert hardly knows how he can forego. Its felicities often seem +to be almost things rather than mere words. It is part of the +national mind, and the anchor of national seriousness. The memory +of the dead passes into it, The potent traditions of childhood are +stereotyped in its verses. The power of all the griefs and trials +of man is hidden beneath its words. It is the representative of +his best moments, and all that has been about him of soft, and +gentle, and pure, and penitent, and good, speaks to him for ever +out of his English Bible. It is his sacred thing, which doubt +has never dimmed and controversy never soiled. In the length +and breadth of the land there is not a Protestant with one +spark of religiousness about him whose spiritual biography +is not in his Saxon Bible." (4) + +It would, indeed, be difficult to overestimate the influence which +the lives of the great and good have exercised upon the elevation +of human character. "The best biography," says Isaac Disraeli, +"is a reunion with human existence in its most excellent state." +Indeed, it is impossible for one to read the lives of good men, +much less inspired men, without being unconsciously lighted and +lifted up in them, and growing insensibly nearer to what they +thought and did. And even the lives of humbler persons, of men of +faithful and honest spirit, who have done their duty in life well, +are not without an elevating influence upon the character of those +who come after them. + +History itself is best studied in biography. Indeed, history is +biography--collective humanity as influenced and governed by +individual men. "What is all history," says Emerson, "but the +work of ideas, a record of the incomparable energy which his +infinite aspirations infuse into man?" In its pages it is always +persons we see more than principles. Historical events are +interesting to us mainly in connection with the feelings, the +sufferings, and interests of those by whom they are accomplished. +In history we are surrounded by men long dead, but whose speech +and whose deeds survive. We almost catch the sound of their +voices; and what they did constitutes the interest of history. We +never feel personally interested in masses of men; but we feel and +sympathise with the individual actors, whose biographies afford +the finest and most real touches in all great historical dramas. + +Among the great writers of the past, probably the two that have +been most influential in forming the characters of great men of +action and great men of thought, have been Plutarch and Montaigne +--the one by presenting heroic models for imitation, the other by +probing questions of constant recurrence in which the human mind +in all ages has taken the deepest interest. And the works of both +are for the most part cast in a biographic form, their most +striking illustrations consisting in the exhibitions of character +and experience which they contain. + +Plutarch's 'Lives,' though written nearly eighteen hundred years +ago, like Homer's 'Iliad,' still holds its ground as the greatest +work of its kind. It was the favourite book of Montaigne; and to +Englishmen it possesses the special interest of having been +Shakspeare's principal authority in his great classical dramas. +Montaigne pronounced Plutarch to be "the greatest master in +that kind of writing"--the biographic; and he declared that +he "could no sooner cast an eye upon him but he purloined +either a leg or a wing." + +Alfieri was first drawn with passion to literature by reading +Plutarch. "I read," said he, "the lives of Timoleon, Caesar, +Brutus, Pelopidas, more than six times, with cries, with tears, +and with such transports, that I was almost furious.... Every time +that I met with one of the grand traits of these great men, I was +seized with such vehement agitation as to be unable to sit still." +Plutarch was also a favourite with persons of such various minds +as Schiller and Benjamin Franklin, Napoleon and Madame Roland. +The latter was so fascinated by the book that she carried it to +church with her in the guise of a missal, and read it +surreptitiously during the service. + +It has also been the nurture of heroic souls such as Henry IV. of +France, Turenne, and the Napiers. It was one of Sir William +Napier's favourite books when a boy. His mind was early imbued by +it with a passionate admiration for the great heroes of antiquity; +and its influence had, doubtless, much to do with the formation of +his character, as well as the direction of his career in life. It +is related of him, that in his last illness, when feeble and +exhausted, his mind wandered back to Plutarch's heroes; and he +descanted for hours to his son-in-law on the mighty deeds of +Alexander, Hannibal, and Caesar. Indeed, if it were possible to +poll the great body of readers in all ages whose minds have been +influenced and directed by books, it is probable that--excepting +always the Bible--the immense majority of votes would be cast in +favour of Plutarch. + +And how is it that Plutarch has succeeded in exciting an interest +which continues to attract and rivet the attention of readers of +all ages and classes to this day? In the first place, because the +subject of his work is great men, who occupied a prominent place +in the world's history, and because he had an eye to see and a pen +to describe the more prominent events and circumstances in their +lives. And not only so, but he possessed the power of portraying +the individual character of his heroes; for it is the principle of +individuality which gives the charm and interest to all biography. +The most engaging side of great men is not so much what they do as +what they are, and does not depend upon their power of intellect +but on their personal attractiveness. Thus, there are men whose +lives are far more eloquent than their speeches, and whose +personal character is far greater than their deeds. + +It is also to be observed, that while the best and most carefully- +drawn of Plutarch's portraits are of life-size, many of them are +little more than busts. They are well-proportioned but compact, +and within such reasonable compass that the best of them--such as +the lives of Caesar and Alexander--may be read in half an hour. +Reduced to this measure, they are, however, greatly more imposing +than a lifeless Colossus, or an exaggerated giant. They are not +overlaid by disquisition and description, but the characters +naturally unfold themselves. Montaigne, indeed, complained of +Plutarch's brevity. "No doubt," he added, "but his reputation is +the better for it, though in the meantime we are the worse. +Plutarch would rather we should applaud his judgment than commend +his knowledge, and had rather leave us with an appetite to read +more than glutted with what we have already read. He knew very +well that a man may say too much even on the best subjects.... +Such as have lean and spare bodies stuff themselves out with +clothes; so they who are defective in matter, endeavour to make +amends with words. (5) + +Plutarch possessed the art of delineating the more delicate +features of mind and minute peculiarities of conduct, as well as +the foibles and defects of his heroes, all of which is necessary +to faithful and accurate portraiture. "To see him," says +Montaigne, "pick out a light action in a man's life, or a word, +that does not seem to be of any importance, is itself a whole +discourse." He even condescends to inform us of such homely +particulars as that Alexander carried his head affectedly on one +side; that Alcibiades was a dandy, and had a lisp, which became +him, giving a grace and persuasive turn to his discourse; that +Cato had red hair and gray eyes, and was a usurer and a screw, +selling off his old slaves when they became unfit for hard work; +that Caesar was bald and fond of gay dress; and that Cicero (like +Lord Brougham) had involuntary twitchings of his nose. + +Such minute particulars may by some be thought beneath the dignity +of biography, but Plutarch thought them requisite for the due +finish of the complete portrait which he set himself to draw; and +it is by small details of character--personal traits, features, +habits, and characteristics--that we are enabled to see before us +the men as they really lived. Plutarch's great merit consists in +his attention to these little things, without giving them undue +preponderance, or neglecting those which are of greater moment. +Sometimes he hits off an individual trait by an anecdote, which +throws more light upon the character described than pages of +rhetorical description would do. In some cases, he gives us +the favourite maxim of his hero; and the maxims of men often +reveal their hearts. + +Then, as to foibles, the greatest of men are not visually +symmetrical. Each has his defect, his twist, his craze; and it is +by his faults that the great man reveals his common humanity. We +may, at a distance, admire him as a demigod; but as we come nearer +to him, we find that he is but a fallible man, and our brother. (6) + +Nor are the illustrations of the defects of great men without +their uses; for, as Dr. Johnson observed, "If nothing but the +bright side of characters were shown, we should sit down in +despondency, and think it utterly impossible to imitate +them in anything." + +Plutarch, himself justifies his method of portraiture by averring +that his design was not to write histories, but lives. "The most +glorious exploits," he says, "do not always furnish us with the +clearest discoveries of virtue or of vice in men. Sometimes a +matter of much less moment, an expression or a jest, better +informs us of their characters and inclinations than battles with +the slaughter of tens of thousands, and the greatest arrays of +armies or sieges of cities. Therefore, as portrait-painters are +more exact in their lines and features of the face and the +expression of the eyes, in which the character is seen, without +troubling themselves about the other parts of the body, so I must +be allowed to give my more particular attention to the signs and +indications of the souls of men; and while I endeavour by these +means to portray their lives, I leave important events and great +battles to be described by others." + +Things apparently trifling may stand for much in biography as well +as history, and slight circumstances may influence great results. +Pascal has remarked, that if Cleopatra's nose had been shorter, +the whole face of the world would probably have been changed. But +for the amours of Pepin the Fat, the Saracens might have overrun +Europe; as it was his illegitimate son, Charles Martel, who +overthrew them at Tours, and eventually drove them out of France. + +That Sir Walter Scott should have sprained his foot in running +round the room when a child, may seem unworthy of notice in his +biography; yet 'Ivanhoe,' 'Old Mortality,' and all the Waverley +novels depended upon it. When his son intimated a desire to enter +the army, Scott wrote to Southey, "I have no title to combat a +choice which would have been my own, had not my lameness +prevented." So that, had not Scott been lame, he might have +fought all through the Peninsular War, and had his breast covered +with medals; but we should probably have had none of those works +of his which have made his name immortal, and shed so much glory +upon his country. Talleyrand also was kept out of the army, for +which he had been destined, by his lameness; but directing his +attention to the study of books, and eventually of men, he at +length took rank amongst the greatest diplomatists of his time. + +Byron's clubfoot had probably not a little to do with determining +his destiny as a poet. Had not his mind been embittered and made +morbid by his deformity, he might never have written a line--he +might have been the noblest fop of his day. But his misshapen +foot stimulated his mind, roused his ardour, threw him upon his +own resources--and we know with what result. + +So, too, of Scarron, to whose hunchback we probably owe his +cynical verse; and of Pope, whose satire was in a measure the +outcome of his deformity--for he was, as Johnson described him, +"protuberant behind and before." What Lord Bacon said of +deformity is doubtless, to a great extent, true. "Whoever," +said he, "hath anything fixed in his person that doth induce +contempt, hath also a perpetual spur in himself to rescue +and deliver himself from scorn; therefore, all deformed persons +are extremely bold." + +As in portraiture, so in biography, there must be light and shade. +The portrait-painter does not pose his sitter so as to bring out +his deformities; nor does the biographer give undue prominence to +the defects of the character he portrays. Not many men are so +outspoken as Cromwell was when he sat to Cooper for his miniature: +"Paint me as I am," said he, "warts and all." Yet, if we would +have a faithful likeness of faces and characters, they must be +painted as they are. "Biography," said Sir Walter Scott, "the +most interesting of every species of composition, loses all its +interest with me when the shades and lights of the principal +characters are not accurately and faithfully detailed. I can no +more sympathise with a mere eulogist, than I can with a ranting +hero on the stage." (7) + +Addison liked to know as much as possible about the person and +character of his authors, inasmuch as it increased the pleasure +and satisfaction which he derived from the perusal of their books. +What was their history, their experience, their temper and +disposition? Did their lives resemble their books? They thought +nobly--did they act nobly? "Should we not delight," says Sir +Egerton Brydges, "to have the frank story of the lives and +feelings of Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, Campbell, Rogers, +Moore, and Wilson, related by themselves?--with whom they lived +early; how their bent took a decided course; their likes and +dislikes; their difficulties and obstacles; their tastes, their +passions; the rocks they were conscious of having split upon; +their regrets, their complacencies, and their self- +justifications?" (8) + +When Mason was reproached for publishing the private letters of +Gray, he answered, "Would you always have my friends appear in +full-dress?" Johnson was of opinion that to write a man's life +truly, it is necessary that the biographer should have personally +known him. But this condition has been wanting in some of the +best writers of biographies extant. (9) In the case of Lord +Campbell, his personal intimacy with Lords Lyndhurst and Brougham +seems to have been a positive disadvantage, leading him to dwarf +the excellences and to magnify the blots in their characters. +Again, Johnson says: "If a man profess to write a life, he must +write it really as it was. A man's peculiarities, and even his +vices, should be mentioned, because they mark his character." But +there is always this difficulty,--that while minute details of +conduct, favourable or otherwise, can best be given from personal +knowledge, they cannot always be published, out of regard for the +living; and when the time arrives when they may at length be told, +they are then no longer remembered. Johnson himself expressed +this reluctance to tell all he knew of those poets who had been +his contemporaries, saying that he felt as if "walking upon ashes +under which the fire was not extinguished." + +For this reason, amongst others, we rarely obtain an unvarnished +picture of character from the near relatives of distinguished men; +and, interesting though all autobiography is, still less can we +expect it from the men themselves. In writing his own memoirs, a +man will not tell all that he knows about himself. Augustine was +a rare exception, but few there are who will, as he did in his +'Confessions,' lay bare their innate viciousness, deceitfulness, +and selfishness. There is a Highland proverb which says, that if +the best man's faults were written on his forehead he would pull +his bonnet over his brow. "There is no man," said Voltaire, "who +has not something hateful in him--no man who has not some of the +wild beast in him. But there are few who will honestly tell us +how they manage their wild beast." Rousseau pretended to unbosom +himself in his 'Confessions;' but it is manifest that he held back +far more than he revealed. Even Chamfort, one of the last men to +fear what his contemporaries might think or say of him, once +observed:- "It seems to me impossible, in the actual state of +society, for any man to exhibit his secret heart, the details of +his character as known to himself, and, above all, his weaknesses +and his vices, to even his best friend." + +An autobiography may be true so far as it goes; but in +communicating only part of the truth, it may convey an impression +that is really false. It may be a disguise--sometimes it is an +apology--exhibiting not so much what a man really was, as what he +would have liked to be. A portrait in profile may be correct, but +who knows whether some scar on the off-cheek, or some squint in +the eye that is not seen, might not have entirely altered the +expression of the face if brought into sight? Scott, Moore, +Southey, all began autobiographies, but the task of continuing +them was doubtless felt to be too difficult as well as delicate, +and they were abandoned. + +French literature is especially rich in a class of biographic +memoirs, of which we have few counterparts in English. We refer +to their MEMOIRES POUR SERVIR, such as those of Sully, De Comines, +Lauzun, De Retz, De Thou, Rochefoucalt, &c., in which we have +recorded an immense mass of minute and circumstantial information +relative to many great personages of history. They are full of +anecdotes illustrative of life and character, and of details which +might be called frivolous, but that they throw a flood of light on +the social habits and general civilisation of the periods to which +they relate. The MEMOIRES of Saint-Simon are something more: they +are marvellous dissections of character, and constitute the most +extraordinary collection of anatomical biography that has ever +been brought together. + +Saint-Simon might almost be regarded in the light of a posthumous +court-spy of Louis the Fourteenth. He was possessed by a passion +for reading character, and endeavouring to decipher motives and +intentions in the faces, expressions, conversation, and byplay of +those about him. "I examine all my personages closely," said he-- +"watch their mouth, eyes, and ears constantly." And what he heard +and saw he noted down with extraordinary vividness and dash. +Acute, keen, and observant, he pierced the masks of the courtiers, +and detected their secrets. The ardour with which he prosecuted +his favourite study of character seemed insatiable, and even +cruel. "The eager anatomist," says Sainte-Beuve, "was not more +ready to plunge the scalpel into the still-palpitating bosom in +search of the disease that had baffled him." + +La Bruyere possessed the same gift of accurate and penetrating +observation of character. He watched and studied everybody about +him. He sought to read their secrets; and, retiring to his +chamber, he deliberately painted their portraits, returning to +them from time to time to correct some prominent feature--hanging +over them as fondly as an artist over some favourite study-- +adding trait to trait, and touch to touch, until at length the +picture was complete and the likeness perfect. + +It may be said that much of the interest of biography, especially +of the more familiar sort, is of the nature of gossip; as that of +the MEMOIRES POUR SERVIR is of the nature of scandal, which is no +doubt true. But both gossip and scandal illustrate the strength +of the interest which men and women take in each other's +personality; and which, exhibited in the form of biography, is +capable of communicating the highest pleasure, and yielding the +best instruction. Indeed biography, because it is instinct of +humanity, is the branch of literature which--whether in the form +of fiction, of anecdotal recollection, or of personal narrative-- +is the one that invariably commends itself to by far the largest +class of readers. + +There is no room for doubt that the surpassing interest which +fiction, whether in poetry or prose, possesses for most minds, +arises mainly from the biographic element which it contains. +Homer's 'Iliad' owes its marvellous popularity to the genius which +its author displayed in the portrayal of heroic character. Yet he +does not so much describe his personages in detail as make them +develope themselves by their actions. "There are in Homer," said +Dr. Johnson, "such characters of heroes and combination of +qualities of heroes, that the united powers of mankind ever since +have not produced any but what are to be found there." + +The genius of Shakspeare also was displayed in the powerful +delineation of character, and the dramatic evolution of human +passions. His personages seem to be real--living and breathing +before us. So too with Cervantes, whose Sancho Panza, though +homely and vulgar, is intensely human. The characters in Le +Sage's 'Gil Blas,' in Goldsmith's 'Vicar of Wakefield,' and in +Scott's marvellous muster-roll, seem to us almost as real as +persons whom we have actually known; and De Foe's greatest works +are but so many biographies, painted in minute detail, with +reality so apparently stamped upon every page, that it is +difficult to believe his Robinson Crusoe and Colonel Jack to have +been fictitious instead of real persons. + +Though the richest romance lies enclosed in actual human life, and +though biography, because it describes beings who have actually +felt the joys and sorrows, and experienced the difficulties and +triumphs, of real life, is capable of being made more attractive, +than the most perfect fictions ever woven, it is remarkable that +so few men of genius have been attracted to the composition of +works of this kind. Great works of fiction abound, but great +biographies may be counted on the fingers. It may be for the same +reason that a great painter of portraits, the late John Philip, +R.A., explained his preference for subject-painting, because, said +he, "Portrait-painting does not pay." Biographic portraiture +involves laborious investigation and careful collection of facts, +judicious rejection and skilful condensation, as well as the art +of presenting the character portrayed in the most attractive and +lifelike form; whereas, in the work of fiction, the writer's +imagination is free to create and to portray character, without +being trammelled by references, or held down by the actual details +of real life. + +There is, indeed, no want among us of ponderous but lifeless +memoirs, many of them little better than inventories, put together +with the help of the scissors as much as of the pen. What +Constable said of the portraits of an inferior artist--"He takes +all the bones and brains out of his heads"--applies to a large +class of portraiture, written as well as painted. They have no +more life in them than a piece of waxwork, or a clothes-dummy at a +tailor's door. What we want is a picture of a man as he lived, +and lo! we have an exhibition of the biographer himself. We +expect an embalmed heart, and we find only clothes. + +There is doubtless as high art displayed in painting a portrait in +words, as there is in painting one in colours. To do either well +requires the seeing eye and the skilful pen or brush. A common +artist sees only the features of a face, and copies them; but the +great artist sees the living soul shining through the features, +and places it on the canvas. Johnson was once asked to assist the +chaplain of a deceased bishop in writing a memoir of his lordship; +but when he proceeded to inquire for information, the chaplain +could scarcely tell him anything. Hence Johnson was led to +observe that "few people who have lived with a man know what to +remark about him." + +In the case of Johnson's own life, it was the seeing eye of +Boswell that enabled him to note and treasure up those minute +details of habit and conversation in which so much of the interest +of biography consists. Boswell, because of his simple love and +admiration of his hero, succeeded where probably greater men would +have failed. He descended to apparently insignificant, but yet +most characteristic, particulars. Thus he apologizes for +informing the reader that Johnson, when journeying, "carried in +his hand a large English oak-stick:" adding, "I remember Dr. Adam +Smith, in his rhetorical lectures at Glasgow, told us he was glad +to know that Milton wore latchets in his shoes instead of +buckles." Boswell lets us know how Johnson looked, what dress he +wore, what was his talk, what were his prejudices. He painted him +with all his scars, and a wonderful portrait it is--perhaps the +most complete picture of a great man ever limned in words. + +But for the accident of the Scotch advocate's intimacy with +Johnson, and his devoted admiration of him, the latter would not +probably have stood nearly so high in literature as he now does. +It is in the pages of Boswell that Johnson really lives; and but +for Boswell, he might have remained little more than a name. +Others there are who have bequeathed great works to posterity, but +of whose lives next to nothing is known. What would we not give +to have a Boswell's account of Shakspeare? We positively know +more of the personal history of Socrates, of Horace, of Cicero, of +Augustine, than we do of that of Shakspeare. We do not know what +was his religion, what were his politics, what were his +experiences, what were his relations to his contemporaries. The +men of his own time do not seem to have recognised his greatness; +and Ben Jonson, the court poet, whose blank-verse Shakspeare was +content to commit to memory and recite as an actor, stood higher +in popular estimation. We only know that he was a successful +theatrical manager, and that in the prime of life he retired to +his native place, where he died, and had the honours of a village +funeral. The greater part of the biography which has been +constructed respecting him has been the result, not of +contemporary observation or of record, but of inference. The best +inner biography of the man is to be found in his sonnets. + +Men do not always take an accurate measure of their +contemporaries. The statesman, the general, the monarch of to-day +fills all eyes and ears, though to the next generation he may be +as if he had never been. "And who is king to-day?" the painter +Greuze would ask of his daughter, during the throes of the first +French Revolution, when men, great for the time, were suddenly +thrown to the surface, and as suddenly dropt out of sight again, +never to reappear. "And who is king to-day? After all," Greuze +would add, "Citizen Homer and Citizen Raphael will outlive those +great citizens of ours, whose names I have never before heard of." +Yet of the personal history of Homer nothing is known, and of +Raphael comparatively little. Even Plutarch, who wrote the lives +of others: so well, has no biography, none of the eminent Roman +writers who were his contemporaries having so much as mentioned +his name. And so of Correggio, who delineated the features of +others so well, there is not known to exist an authentic portrait. + +There have been men who greatly influenced the life of their +time, whose reputation has been much greater with posterity +than it was with their contemporaries. Of Wickliffe, the +patriarch of the Reformation, our knowledge is extremely small. +He was but as a voice crying in the wilderness. We do not +really know who was the author of 'The Imitation of Christ' +--a book that has had an immense circulation, and exercised +a vast religious influence in all Christian countries. It +is usually attributed to Thomas a Kempis but there is reason +to believe that he was merely its translator, and the book that +is really known to be his, (10) is in all respects so inferior, +that it is difficult to believe that 'The Imitation' proceeded +from the same pen. It is considered more probable that the +real author was John Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris, +a most learned and devout man, who died in 1429. + +Some of the greatest men of genius have had the shortest +biographies. Of Plato, one of the great fathers of moral +philosophy, we have no personal account. If he had wife and +children, we hear nothing of them. About the life of Aristotle +there is the greatest diversity of opinion. One says he was a +Jew; another, that he only got his information from a Jew: one +says he kept an apothecary's shop; another, that he was only the +son of a physician: one alleges that he was an atheist; another, +that he was a Trinitarian, and so forth. But we know almost as +little with respect to many men of comparatively modern times. +Thus, how little do we know of the lives of Spenser, author of +'The Faerie Queen,' and of Butler, the author of 'Hudibras,' +beyond the fact that they lived in comparative obscurity, and died +in extreme poverty! How little, comparatively, do we know of the +life of Jeremy Taylor, the golden preacher, of whom we should like +to have known so much! + +The author of 'Philip Van Artevelde' has said that "the world +knows nothing of its greatest men." And doubtless oblivion has +enwrapt in its folds many great men who have done great deeds, and +been forgotten. Augustine speaks of Romanianus as the greatest +genius that ever lived, and yet we know nothing of him but his +name; he is as much forgotten as the builders of the Pyramids. +Gordiani's epitaph was written in five languages, yet it sufficed +not to rescue him from oblivion. + +Many, indeed, are the lives worthy of record that have remained +unwritten. Men who have written books have been the most +fortunate in this respect, because they possess an attraction for +literary men which those whose lives have been embodied in deeds +do not possess. Thus there have been lives written of Poets +Laureate who were mere men of their time, and of their time only. +Dr. Johnson includes some of them in his 'Lives of the Poets,' +such as Edmund Smith and others, whose poems are now no longer +known. The lives of some men of letters--such as Goldsmith, +Swift, Sterne, and Steele--have been written again and again, +whilst great men of action, men of science, and men of industry, +are left without a record. (11) + +We have said that a man may be known by the company he keeps in +his books. Let us mention a few of the favourites of the best- +known men. Plutarch's admirers have already been referred to. +Montaigne also has been the companion of most meditative men. +Although Shakspeare must have studied Plutarch carefully, inasmuch +as he copied from him freely, even to his very words, it is +remarkable that Montaigne is the only book which we certainly know +to have been in the poet's library; one of Shakspeare's existing +autographs having been found in a copy of Florio's translation of +'The Essays,' which also contains, on the flyleaf, the autograph +of Ben Jonson. + +Milton's favourite books were Homer, Ovid, and Euripides. The +latter book was also the favourite of Charles James Fox, who +regarded the study of it as especially useful to a public speaker. +On the other hand, Pitt took especial delight in Milton--whom Fox +did not appreciate--taking pleasure in reciting, from 'Paradise +Lost,' the grand speech of Belial before the assembled powers of +Pandemonium. Another of Pitt's ,favourite books was Newton's +'Principia.' Again, the Earl of Chatham's favourite book was +'Barrow's Sermons,' which he read so often as to be able to repeat +them from memory; while Burke's companions were Demosthenes, +Milton, Bolingbroke, and Young's 'Night Thoughts.' + +Curran's favourite was Homer, which he read through once a year. +Virgil was another of his favourites; his biographer, Phillips, +saying that he once saw him reading the 'Aeneid' in the cabin +of a Holyhead packet, while every one about him was prostrate +by seasickness. + +Of the poets, Dante's favourite was Virgil; Corneille's was Lucan; +Schiller's was Shakspeare; Gray's was Spenser; whilst Coleridge +admired Collins and Bowles. Dante himself was a favourite with +most great poets, from Chaucer to Byron and Tennyson. Lord +Brougham, Macaulay, and Carlyle have alike admired and eulogized +the great Italian. The former advised the students at Glasgow +that, next to Demosthenes, the study of Dante was the best +preparative for the eloquence of the pulpit or the bar. Robert +Hall sought relief in Dante from the racking pains of spinal +disease; and Sydney Smith took to the same poet for comfort and +solace in his old age. It was characteristic of Goethe that his +favourite book should have been Spinoza's 'Ethics,' in which he +said he had found a peace and consolation such as he had been able +to find in no other work. (12) + +Barrow's favourite was St. Chrysostom; Bossuet's was Homer. +Bunyan's was the old legend of Sir Bevis of Southampton, which in +all probability gave him the first idea of his 'Pilgrim's +Progress.' One of the best prelates that ever sat on the English +bench, Dr. John Sharp, said--"Shakspeare and the Bible have made +me Archbishop of York." The two books which most impressed John +Wesley when a young man, were 'The Imitation of Christ' and Jeremy +Taylor's 'Holy Living and Dying.' Yet Wesley was accustomed to +caution his young friends against overmuch reading. "Beware you +be not swallowed up in books," he would say to them; "an ounce of +love is worth a pound of knowledge." + +Wesley's own Life has been a great favourite with many thoughtful +readers. Coleridge says, in his preface to Southey's 'Life of +Wesley,' that it was more often in his hands than any other in his +ragged book-regiment. "To this work, and to the Life of Richard +Baxter," he says, "I was used to resort whenever sickness and +languor made me feel the want of an old friend of whose company I +could never be tired. How many and many an hour of self-oblivion +do I owe to this Life of Wesley; and how often have I argued with +it, questioned, remonstrated, been peevish, and asked pardon; then +again listened, and cried, 'Right! Excellent!' and in yet heavier +hours entreated it, as it were, to continue talking to me; for +that I heard and listened, and was soothed, though I could +make no reply!" (13) + +Soumet had only a very few hooks in his library, but they were of +the best--Homer, Virgil, Dante, Camoens, Tasso, and Milton. De +Quincey's favourite few were Donne, Chillingworth, Jeremy Taylor, +Milton, South, Barrow, and Sir Thomas Browne. He described these +writers as "a pleiad or constellation of seven golden stars, such +as in their class no literature can match," and from whose works +he would undertake "to build up an entire body of philosophy." + +Frederick the Great of Prussia manifested his strong French +leanings in his choice of books; his principal favourites being +Bayle, Rousseau, Voltaire, Rollin, Fleury, Malebranche, and one +English author--Locke. His especial favourite was Bayle's +Dictionary, which was the first book that laid hold of his mind; +and he thought so highly of it, that he himself made an abridgment +and translation of it into German, which was published. It was a +saying of Frederick's, that "books make up no small part of true +happiness." In his old age he said, "My latest passion will +be for literature." + +It seems odd that Marshal Blucher's favourite book should have +been Klopstock's 'Messiah,' and Napoleon Buonaparte's favourites, +Ossian's 'Poems' and the 'Sorrows of Werther.' But Napoleon's +range of reading was very extensive. It included Homer, Virgil, +Tasso; novels of all countries; histories of all times; +mathematics, legislation, and theology. He detested what he +called "the bombast and tinsel" of Voltaire. The praises of Homer +and Ossian he was never wearied of sounding. "Read again," he +said to an officer on board the BELLEROPHO--"read again the poet +of Achilles; devour Ossian. Those are the poets who lift up the +soul, and give to man a colossal greatness." (14) + +The Duke of Wellington was an extensive reader; his principal +favourites were Clarendon, Bishop Butler, Smith's 'Wealth of +Nations,' Hume, the Archduke Charles, Leslie, and the Bible. He +was also particularly interested by French and English memoirs-- +more especially the French MEMOIRES POUR SERVIR of all kinds. +When at Walmer, Mr. Gleig says, the Bible, the Prayer Book, +Taylor's 'Holy Living and Dying,' and Caesar's 'Commentaries,' lay +within the Duke's reach; and, judging by the marks of use on them, +they must have been much read and often consulted. + +While books are among the best companions of old age, they are +often the best inspirers of youth. The first book that makes a +deep impression on a young man's mind, often constitutes an epoch +in his life. It may fire the heart, stimulate the enthusiasm, and +by directing his efforts into unexpected channels, permanently +influence his character. The new book, in which we form an +intimacy with a new friend, whose mind is wiser and riper than +our own, may thus form an important starting-point in the +history of a life. It may sometimes almost be regarded +in the light of a new birth. + +From the day when James Edward Smith was presented with his first +botanical lesson-book, and Sir Joseph Banks fell in with Gerard's +'Herbal'--from the time when Alfieri first read Plutarch, and +Schiller made his first acquaintance with Shakspeare, and Gibbon +devoured the first volume of 'The Universal History'--each dated +an inspiration so exalted, that they felt as if their real lives +had only then begun. + +In the earlier part of his youth, La Fontaine was distinguished +for his idleness, but hearing an ode by Malherbe read, he is said +to have exclaimed, "I too am a poet," and his genius was awakened. +Charles Bossuet's mind was first fired to study by reading, at an +early age, Fontenelle's 'Eloges' of men of science. Another work +of Fontenelle's--'On the Plurality of Worlds'--influenced the +mind of Lalande in making choice of a profession. "It is with +pleasure," says Lalande himself in a preface to the book, which be +afterwards edited, "that I acknowledge my obligation to it for +that devouring activity which its perusal first excited in me at +the age of sixteen, and which I have since retained." + +In like manner, Lacepede was directed to the study of natural +history by the perusal of Buffon's 'Histoire Naturelle,' which he +found in his father's library, and read over and over again until +he almost knew it by heart. Goethe was greatly influenced by the +reading of Goldsmith's 'Vicar of Wakefield,' just at the critical +moment of his mental development; and he attributed to it much of +his best education. The reading of a prose 'Life of Gotz +vou Berlichingen' afterwards stimulated him to delineate his +character in a poetic form. "The figure of a rude, well-meaning +self-helper," he said, "in a wild anarchic time, excited +my deepest sympathy." + +Keats was an insatiable reader when a boy; but it was the perusal +of the 'Faerie Queen,' at the age of seventeen, that first lit the +fire of his genius. The same poem is also said to have been the +inspirer of Cowley, who found a copy of it accidentally lying on +the window of his mother's apartment; and reading and admiring it, +he became, as he relates, irrecoverably a poet. + +Coleridge speaks of the great influence which the poems of Bowles +had in forming his own mind. The works of a past age, says he, +seem to a young man to be things of another race; but the writings +of a contemporary "possess a reality for him, and inspire an +actual friendship as of a man for a man. His very admiration is +the wind which fans and feeds his hope. The poems themselves +assume the properties of flesh and blood." (15) + +But men have not merely been stimulated to undertake special +literary pursuits by the perusal of particular books; they +have been also stimulated by them to enter upon particular +lines of action in the serious business of life. Thus Henry +Martyn was powerfully influenced to enter upon his heroic career +as a missionary by perusing the Lives of Henry Brainerd and +Dr. Carey, who had opened up the furrows in which he went +forth to sow the seed. + +Bentham has described the extraordinary influence which the +perusal of 'Telemachus' exercised upon his mind in boyhood. +"Another book," said he, "and of far higher character (than a +collection of Fairy Tales, to which he refers), was placed in my +hands. It was 'Telemachus.' In my own imagination, and at the +age of six or seven, I identified my own personality with that of +the hero, who seemed to me a model of perfect virtue; and in my +walk of life, whatever it may come to be, why (said I to myself +every now and then)--why should not I be a Telemachus? .... That +romance may be regarded as THE FOUNDATION-STONE OF MY WHOLE +CHARACTER--the starting-post from whence my career of life +commenced. The first dawning in my mind of the 'Principles of +Utility' may, I think, be traced to it." (16) + +Cobbett's first favourite, because his only book, which he bought +for threepence, was Swift's 'Tale of a Tub,' the repeated perusal +of which had, doubtless, much to do with the formation of his +pithy, straightforward, and hard-hitting style of writing. The +delight with which Pope, when a schoolboy, read Ogilvy's 'Homer' +was, most probably, the origin of the English 'Iliad;' as the +'Percy Reliques' fired the juvenile mind of Scott, and stimulated +him to enter upon the collection and composition of his 'Border +Ballads.' Keightley's first reading of 'Paradise Lost,' when a +boy, led to his afterwards undertaking his Life of the poet. +"The reading," he says, "of 'Paradise Lost' for the first +time forms, or should form, an era in the life of every one +possessed of taste and poetic feeling. To my mind, that time +is ever present.... Ever since, the poetry of Milton has formed +my constant study--a source of delight in prosperity, of strength +and consolation in adversity." + +Good books are thus among the best of companions; and, by +elevating the thoughts and aspirations, they act as preservatives +against low associations. "A natural turn for reading and +intellectual pursuits," says Thomas Hood, "probably preserved me +from the moral shipwreck so apt to befal those who are deprived in +early life of their parental pilotage. My books kept me from the +ring, the dogpit, the tavern, the saloon. The closet associate of +Pope and Addison, the mind accustomed to the noble though silent +discourse of Shakspeare and Milton, will hardly seek or put up +with low company and slaves." + +It has been truly said, that the best books are those which most +resemble good actions. They are purifying, elevating, and +sustaining; they enlarge and liberalize the mind; they preserve it +against vulgar worldliness; they tend to produce highminded +cheerfulness and equanimity of character; they fashion, and shape, +and humanize the mind. In the Northern universities, the schools +in which the ancient classics are studied, are appropriately +styled "The Humanity Classes." (17) + +Erasmus, the great scholar, was even of opinion that books were +the necessaries of life, and clothes the luxuries; and he +frequently postponed buying the latter until he had supplied +himself with the former. His greatest favourites were the works +of Cicero, which he says he always felt himself the better for +reading. "I can never," he says, "read the works of Cicero on +'Old Age,' or 'Friendship,' or his 'Tusculan Disputations,' +without fervently pressing them to my lips, without being +penetrated with veneration for a mind little short of inspired by +God himself." It was the accidental perusal of Cicero's +'Hortensius' which first detached St. Augustine--until then a +profligate and abandoned sensualist--from his immoral life, and +started him upon the course of inquiry and study which led to his +becoming the greatest among the Fathers of the Early Church. Sir +William Jones made it a practice to read through, once a year, the +writings of Cicero, "whose life indeed," says his biographer, was +the great exemplar of his own." + +When the good old Puritan Baxter came to enumerate the valuable +and delightful things of which death would deprive him, his mind +reverted to the pleasures he had derived from books and study. +"When I die," he said, "I must depart, not only from sensual +delights, but from the more manly pleasures of my studies, +knowledge, and converse with many wise and godly men, and from all +my pleasure in reading, hearing, public and private exercises of +religion, and such like. I must leave my library, and turn over +those pleasant books no more. I must no more come among the +living, nor see the faces of my faithful friends, nor be seen of +man; houses, and cities, and fields, and countries, gardens, and +walks, will be as nothing to me. I shall no more hear of the +affairs of the world, of man, or wars, or other news; nor see what +becomes of that beloved interest of wisdom, piety, and peace, +which I desire may prosper." + +It is unnecessary to speak of the enormous moral influence which +books have exercised upon the general civilization of mankind, +from the Bible downwards. They contain the treasured knowledge of +the human race. They are the record of all labours, achievements, +speculations, successes, and failures, in science, philosophy, +religion, and morals. They have been the greatest motive powers +in all times. "From the Gospel to the Contrat Social," says De +Bonald, "it is books that have made revolutions." Indeed, a great +book is often a greater thing than a great battle. Even works of +fiction have occasionally exercised immense power on society. +Thus Rabelais in France, and Cervantes in Spain, overturned at the +same time the dominion of monkery and chivalry, employing no other +weapons but ridicule, the natural contrast of human terror. The +people laughed, and felt reassured. So 'Telemachus' appeared, and +recalled men back to the harmonies of nature. + +"Poets," says Hazlitt, "are a longer-lived race than heroes: they +breathe more of the air of immortality. They survive more entire +in their thoughts and acts. We have all that Virgil or Homer did, +as much as if we had lived at the same time with them. We can +hold their works in our hands, or lay them on our pillows, or put +them to our lips. Scarcely a trace of what the others did is left +upon the earth, so as to be visible to common eyes. The one, the +dead authors, are living men, still breathing and moving in their +writings; the others, the conquerors of the world, are but the +ashes in an urn. The sympathy (so to speak) between thought and +thought is more intimate and vital than that between thought and +action. Thought is linked to thought as flame kindles into flame; +the tribute of admiration to the MANES of departed heroism is like +burning incense in a marble monument. Words, ideas, feelings, +with the progress of time harden into substances: things, bodies, +actions, moulder away, or melt into a sound--into thin air.... +Not only a man's actions are effaced and vanish with him; his +virtues and generous qualities die with him also. His intellect +only is immortal, and bequeathed unimpaired to posterity. Words +are the only things that last for ever." (18) + + + +NOTES + +(1) 'Kaye's 'Lives of Indian Officers.' + +(2) Emerson, in his 'Society and Solitude,' says "In contemporaries, +it is not so easy to distinguish between notoriety and fame. Be +sure, then, to read no mean books. Shun the spawn of the press or +the gossip of the hour.... The three practical rules I have to +offer are these:- 1. Never read a book that is not a year old; +2. Never read any but famed books; 3. Never read any but what you +like." Lord Lytton's maxim is: "In science, read by preference +the newest books; in literature, the oldest." + +(3) A friend of Sir Walter Scott, who had the same habit, and prided +himself on his powers of conversation, one day tried to "draw out" +a fellow-passenger who sat beside him on the outside of a coach, +but with indifferent success. At length the conversationalist +descended to expostulation. "I have talked to you, my friend," +said he, "on all the ordinary subjects--literature, farming, +merchandise, gaming, game-laws, horse-races, suits at law, +politics, and swindling, and blasphemy, and philosophy: is there +any one subject that you will favour me by opening upon?" The +wight writhed his countenance into a grin: "Sir," said he, "can +you say anything clever about BEND-LEATHER?" As might be +expected, the conversationalist was completely nonplussed. + +(4) Coleridge, in his 'Lay Sermon,' points out, as a fact of history, +how large a part of our present knowledge and civilization is +owing, directly or indirectly, to the Bible; that the Bible has +been the main lever by which the moral and intellectual character +of Europe has been raised to its present comparative height; and +he specifies the marked and prominent difference of this book from +the works which it is the fashion to quote as guides and +authorities in morals, politics, and history. "In the Bible," he +says, "every agent appears and acts as a self-substituting +individual: each has a life of its own, and yet all are in life. +The elements of necessity and freewill are reconciled in the +higher power of an omnipresent Providence, that predestinates the +whole in the moral freedom of the integral parts. Of this the +Bible never suffers us to lose sight. The root is never detached +from the ground, it is God everywhere; and all creatures conform +to His decrees--the righteous by performance of the law, the +disobedient by the sufferance of the penalty." + +(5) Montaigne's Essay (Book I. chap. xxv.)--'Of the Education +of Children.' + +(6) "Tant il est vrai," says Voltaire, "que les hommes, qui sont +audessus des autres par les talents, s'en RAPPROCHENT PRESQUE +TOUJOURS PAR LES FAIBLESSES; car pourquoi les talents nous +mettraient-ils audessous de l'humanite."--VIE DE MOLIERE. + +(7) 'Life,' 8vo Ed., p. 102. + +(8) 'Autobiography of Sir Egerton Brydges, Bart.,' vol. i. p. 91. + +(9) It was wanting in Plutarch, in Southey ('Life of Nelson'), and in +Forster ('Life of Goldsmith'); yet it must be acknowledged that +personal knowledge gives the principal charm to Tacitus's +'Agricola,' Roper's 'Life of More,' Johnson's 'Lives of Savage and +Pope,' Boswell's 'Johnson,' Lockhart's 'Scott,' Carlyle's +'Sterling,' and Moore's 'Byron,' + +(10) The 'Dialogus Novitiorum de Contemptu Mundi.' + +(11) The Life of Sir Charles Bell, one of our greatest physiologists, +was left to be written by Amedee Pichot, a Frenchman; and though +Sir Charles Bell's letters to his brother have since been +published, his Life still remains to be written. It may +also be added that the best Life of Goethe has been written +by an Englishman, and the best Life of Frederick the Great +by a Scotchman. + +(12) It is not a little remarkable that the pious Schleiermacher +should have concurred in opinion with Goethe as to the merits of +Spinoza, though he was a man excommunicated by the Jews, to whom +he belonged, and denounced by the Christians as a man little +better than an atheist. "The Great Spirit of the world," says +Schleiermacher, in his REDE UBER DIE RELIGION, "penetrated the +holy but repudiated Spinoza; the Infinite was his beginning and +his end; the universe his only and eternal love. He was filled +with religion and religious feeling: and therefore is it that he +stands alone unapproachable, the master in his art, but elevated +above the profane world, without adherents, and without even +citizenship." + +Cousin also says of Spinoza:- "The author whom this pretended +atheist most resembles is the unknown author of 'The Imitation of +Jesus Christ.'" + +(13) Preface to Southeys 'Life of Wesley' (1864). + +(14) Napoleon also read Milton carefully, and it has been related of +him by Sir Colin Campbell, who resided with Napoleon at Elba, that +when speaking of the Battle of Austerlitz, he said that a +particular disposition of his artillery, which, in its results, +had a decisive effect in winning the battle, was suggested to his +mind by the recollection of four lines in Milton. The lines occur +in the sixth book, and are descriptive of Satan's artifice during +the war with Heaven + + "In hollow cube + Training his devilish engin'ry, impal'd + On every side WITH SHADOWING SQUADRONS DEEP + TO HIDE THE FRAUD." + +"The indubitable fact," says Mr. Edwards, in his book 'On +Libraries,' "that these lines have a certain appositeness to an +important manoeuvre at Austerlitz, gives an independent interest +to the story; but it is highly imaginative to ascribe the victory +to that manoeuvre. And for the other preliminaries of the tale, +it is unfortunate that Napoleon had learned a good deal about war +long before he had learned anything about Milton." + +(15) 'Biographia Literaria,' chap. i. + +(16) Sir John Bowring's 'Memoirs of Bentham,' p. 10. + +(17) Notwithstanding recent censures of classical studies as a useless +waste of time, there can be no doubt that they give the highest +finish to intellectual culture. The ancient classics contain the +most consummate models of literary art; and the greatest writers +have been their most diligent students. Classical culture was the +instrument with which Erasmus and the Reformers purified Europe. +It distinguished the great patriots of the seventeenth century; +and it has ever since characterised our greatest statesmen. "I +know not how it is," says an English writer, "but their commerce +with the ancients appears to me to produce, in those who +constantly practise it, a steadying and composing effect upon +their judgment, not of literary works only, but of men and events +in general. They are like persons who have had a weighty and +impressive experience; they are more truly than others under the +empire of facts, and more independent of the language current +among those with whom they live." + +(18) Hazlitt's TABLE TALK: 'On Thought and Action.' + + + +CHAPTER XI.--COMPANIONSHIP IN MARRIAGE. + + + + "Kindness in women, not their beauteous looks, + Shall win my love."--SHAKSPEARE. + +"In the husband Wisdom, In the wife Gentleness."--GEORGE HERBERT. + +"If God had designed woman as man's master, He would have taken +her from his head; If as his slave, He would have taken her from +his feet; but as He designed her for his companion and equal, He +took her from his side."--SAINT AUGUSTINE.--'DE CIVITATE DEI.' + +"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above +rubies.... Her husband is known in the gates, and he sitteth +among the elders of the land.... Strength and honour are her +clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her +mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She +looketh well to the ways of her husband, and eateth not the bread +of idleness. Her children arise up and call her blessed; her +husband also, and he praiseth her."--PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. + + +THE character of men, as of women, is powerfully influenced by +their companionship in all the stages of life. We have already +spoken of the influence of the mother in forming the character of +her children. She makes the moral atmosphere in which they live, +and by which their minds and souls are nourished, as their bodies +are by the physical atmosphere they breathe. And while woman is +the natural cherisher of infancy and the instructor of childhood, +she is also the guide and counsellor of youth, and the confidant +and companion of manhood, in her various relations of mother, +sister, lover, and wife. In short, the influence of woman more or +less affects, for good or for evil, the entire destinies of man. + +The respective social functions and duties of men and women are +clearly defined by nature. God created man AND woman, each to do +their proper work, each to fill their proper sphere. Neither can +occupy the position, nor perform the functions, of the other. +Their several vocations are perfectly distinct. Woman exists on +her own account, as man does on his, at the same time that each +has intimate relations with the other. Humanity needs both for +the purposes of the race, and in every consideration of social +progress both must necessarily be included. + +Though companions and equals, yet, as regards the measure of their +powers, they are unequal. Man is stronger, more muscular, and of +rougher fibre; woman is more delicate, sensitive, and nervous. +The one excels in power of brain, the other in qualities of heart; +and though the head may rule, it is the heart that influences. +Both are alike adapted for the respective functions they have to +perform in life; and to attempt to impose woman's work upon man +would be quite as absurd as to attempt to impose man's work upon +woman. Men are sometimes womanlike, and women are sometimes +manlike; but these are only exceptions which prove the rule. + +Although man's qualities belong more to the head, and woman's more +to the heart--yet it is not less necessary that man's heart +should be cultivated as well as his head, and woman's head +cultivated as well as her heart. A heartless man is as much out- +of-keeping in civilized society as a stupid and unintelligent +woman. The cultivation of all parts of the moral and intellectual +nature is requisite to form the man or woman of healthy and well- +balanced character. Without sympathy or consideration for others, +man were a poor, stunted, sordid, selfish being; and without +cultivated intelligence, the most beautiful woman were little +better than a well-dressed doll. + +It used to be a favourite notion about woman, that her weakness +and dependency upon others constituted her principal claim to +admiration. "If we were to form an image of dignity in a man," +said Sir Richard Steele, "we should give him wisdom and valour, as +being essential to the character of manhood. In like manner, if +you describe a right woman in a laudable sense, she should have +gentle softness, tender fear, and all those parts of life which +distinguish her from the other sex, with some subordination to it, +but an inferiority which makes her lovely." Thus, her weakness +was to be cultivated, rather than her strength; her folly, rather +than her wisdom. She was to be a weak, fearful, tearful, +characterless, inferior creature, with just sense enough to +understand the soft nothings addressed to her by the "superior" +sex. She was to be educated as an ornamental appanage of man, +rather as an independent intelligence--or as a wife, mother, +companion, or friend. + +Pope, in one of his 'Moral Essays,' asserts that "most women have +no characters at all;" and again he says:- + + "Ladies, like variegated tulips, show: + 'Tis to their changes half their charms we owe, + Fine by defect and delicately weak." + +This satire characteristically occurs in the poet's 'Epistle to +Martha Blount,' the housekeeper who so tyrannically ruled him; and +in the same verses he spitefully girds at Lady Mary Wortley +Montague, at whose feet he had thrown himself as a lover, and been +contemptuously rejected. But Pope was no judge of women, nor was +he even a very wise or tolerant judge of men. + +It is still too much the practice to cultivate the weakness of +woman rather than her strength, and to render her attractive +rather than self-reliant. Her sensibilities are developed at the +expense of her health of body as well as of mind. She lives, +moves, and has her being in the sympathy of others. She dresses +that she may attract, and is burdened with accomplishments that +she may be chosen. Weak, trembling, and dependent, she incurs the +risk of becoming a living embodiment of the Italian proverb--"so +good that she is good for nothing." + +On the other hand, the education of young men too often errs on +the side of selfishness. While the boy is incited to trust mainly +to his own efforts in pushing his way in the world, the girl is +encouraged to rely almost entirely upon others. He is educated +with too exclusive reference to himself and she is educated with +too exclusive reference to him. He is taught to be self-reliant +and self-dependent, while she is taught to be distrustful of +herself, dependent, and self-sacrificing in all things. Thus, +the intellect of the one is cultivated at the expense of the +affections, and the affections of the other at the expense +of the intellect. + +It is unquestionable that the highest qualities of woman are +displayed in her relationship to others, through the medium of her +affections. She is the nurse whom nature has given to all +humankind. She takes charge of the helpless, and nourishes and +cherishes those we love. She is the presiding genius of the +fireside, where she creates an atmosphere of serenity and +contentment suitable for the nurture and growth of character in +its best forms. She is by her very constitution compassionate, +gentle, patient, and self-denying. Loving, hopeful, trustful, +her eye sheds brightness everywhere. It shines upon coldness +and warms it, upon suffering and relieves it, upon sorrow +and cheers it:-- + + "Her silver flow + Of subtle-paced counsel in distress, + Right to the heart and brain, though undescried, + Winning its way with extreme gentleness + Through all the outworks of suspicion's pride." + +Woman has been styled "the angel of the unfortunate." She is +ready to help the weak, to raise the fallen, to comfort the +suffering. It was characteristic of woman, that she should have +been the first to build and endow an hospital. It has been said +that wherever a human being is in suffering, his sighs call a +woman to his side. When Mungo Park, lonely, friendless, and +famished, after being driven forth from an African village by +the men, was preparing to spend the night under a tree, exposed +to the rain and the wild beasts which there abounded, a poor +negro woman, returning from the labours of the field, took +compassion upon him, conducted him into her hut, and there +gave him food, succour, and shelter. (1) + +But while the most characteristic qualities of woman are displayed +through her sympathies and affections, it is also necessary for +her own happiness, as a self-dependent being, to develope and +strengthen her character, by due self-culture, self-reliance, and +self-control. It is not desirable, even were it possible, to +close the beautiful avenues of the heart. Self-reliance of the +best kind does not involve any limitation in the range of human +sympathy. But the happiness of woman, as of man, depends in a +great measure upon her individual completeness of character. And +that self-dependence which springs from the due cultivation of the +intellectual powers, conjoined with a proper discipline of the +heart and conscience, will enable her to be more useful in life as +well as happy; to dispense blessings intelligently as well as to +enjoy them; and most of all those which spring from mutual +dependence and social sympathy. + +To maintain a high standard of purity in society, the culture of +both sexes must be in harmony, and keep equal pace. A pure +womanhood must be accompanied by a pure manhood. The same moral +law applies alike to both. It would be loosening the foundations +of virtue, to countenance the notion that because of a difference +in sex, man were at liberty to set morality at defiance, and to do +that with impunity, which, if done by a woman, would stain her +character for life. To maintain a pure and virtuous condition of +society, therefore, man as well as woman must be pure and +virtuous; both alike shunning all acts impinging on the heart, +character, and conscience--shunning them as poison, which, +once imbibed, can never be entirely thrown out again, but +mentally embitters, to a greater or less extent, the happiness +of after-life. + +And here we would venture to touch upon a delicate topic. Though +it is one of universal and engrossing human interest, the moralist +avoids it, the educator shuns it, and parents taboo it. It is +almost considered indelicate to refer to Love as between the +sexes; and young persons are left to gather their only notions of +it from the impossible love-stories that fill the shelves of +circulating libraries. This strong and absorbing feeling, this +BESOIN D'AIMER--which nature has for wise purposes made so strong +in woman that it colours her whole life and history, though it may +form but an episode in the life of man--is usually left to follow +its own inclinations, and to grow up for the most part unchecked, +without any guidance or direction whatever. + +Although nature spurns all formal rules and directions in affairs +of love, it might at all events be possible to implant in young +minds such views of Character as should enable them to +discriminate between the true and the false, and to accustom them +to hold in esteem those qualities of moral purity and integrity, +without which life is but a scene of folly and misery. It may not +be possible to teach young people to love wisely, but they may at +least be guarded by parental advice against the frivolous and +despicable passions which so often usurp its name. "Love," it has +been said, "in the common acceptation of the term, is folly; but +love, in its purity, its loftiness, its unselfishness, is not only +a consequence, but a proof, of our moral excellence. The +sensibility to moral beauty, the forgetfulness of self in the +admiration engendered by it, all prove its claim to a high moral +influence. It is the triumph of the unselfish over the selfish +part of our nature." + +It is by means of this divine passion that the world is kept ever +fresh and young. It is the perpetual melody of humanity. It +sheds an effulgence upon youth, and throws a halo round age. It +glorifies the present by the light it casts backward, and it +lightens the future by the beams it casts forward. The love which +is the outcome of esteem and admiration, has an elevating and +purifying effect on the character. It tends to emancipate one +from the slavery of self. It is altogether unsordid; itself is +its only price. It inspires gentleness, sympathy, mutual faith, +and confidence. True love also in a measure elevates the +intellect. "All love renders wise in a degree," says the poet +Browning, and the most gifted minds have been the sincerest +lovers. Great souls make all affections great; they elevate and +consecrate all true delights. The sentiment even brings to light +qualities before lying dormant and unsuspected. It elevates the +aspirations, expands the soul, and stimulates the mental powers. +One of the finest compliments ever paid to a woman was that of +Steele, when he said of Lady Elizabeth Hastings, "that to have +loved her was a liberal education." Viewed in this light, woman +is an educator in the highest sense, because, above all other +educators, she educates humanly and lovingly. + +It has been said that no man and no woman can be regarded as +complete in their experience of life, until they have been subdued +into union with the world through their affections. As woman is +not woman until she has known love, neither is man man. Both are +requisite to each other's completeness. Plato entertained the +idea that lovers each sought a likeness in the other, and that +love was only the divorced half of the original human being +entering into union with its counterpart. But philosophy would +here seem to be at fault, for affection quite as often springs +from unlikeness as from likeness in its object. + +The true union must needs be one of mind as well as of heart, and +based on mutual esteem as well as mutual affection. "No true and +enduring love," says Fichte, "can exist without esteem ; every +other draws regret after it, and is unworthy of any noble human +soul." One cannot really love the bad, but always something that +we esteem and respect as well as admire. In short, true union +must rest on qualities of character, which rule in domestic as in +public life. + +But there is something far more than mere respect and esteem in +the union between man and wife. The feeling on which it rests +is far deeper and tenderer--such, indeed, as never exists +between men or between women. "In matters of affection," says +Nathaniel Hawthorne, "there is always an impassable gulf between +man and man. They can never quite grasp each other's hands, +and therefore man never derives any intimate help, any +heart-sustenance, from his brother man, but from woman--his +mother, his sister, or his wife." (2) + +Man enters a new world of joy, and sympathy, and human interest, +through the porch of love. He enters a new world in his home-- +the home of his own making--altogether different from the home of +his boyhood, where each day brings with it a succession of new +joys and experiences. He enters also, it may be, a new world of +trials and sorrows, in which he often gathers his best culture and +discipline. "Family life," says Sainte-Beuve, "may be full of +thorns and cares; but they are fruitful: all others are dry +thorns." And again: "If a man's home, at a certain period of +life, does not contain children, it will probably be found filled +with follies or with vices." (3) + +A life exclusively occupied in affairs of business insensibly +tends to narrow and harden the character. It is mainly occupied +with self-watching for advantages, and guarding against sharp +practice on the part of others. Thus the character unconsciously +tends to grow suspicious and ungenerous. The best corrective of +such influences is always the domestic; by withdrawing the mind +from thoughts that are wholly gainful, by taking it out of its +daily rut, and bringing it back to the sanctuary of home for +refreshment and rest: + + "That truest, rarest light of social joy, + Which gleams upon the man of many cares." + +"Business," says Sir Henry Taylor, "does but lay waste the +approaches to the heart, whilst marriage garrisons the fortress." +And however the head may be occupied, by labours of ambition or of +business--if the heart be not occupied by affection for others +and sympathy with them--life, though it may appear to the outer +world to be a success, will probably be no success at all, +but a failure. (4) + +A man's real character will always be more visible in his +household than anywhere else; and his practical wisdom will be +better exhibited by the manner in which he bears rule there, than +even in the larger affairs of business or public life. His whole +mind may be in his business; but, if he would be happy, his whole +heart must be in his home. It is there that his genuine qualities +most surely display themselves--there that he shows his +truthfulness, his love, his sympathy, his consideration for +others, his uprightness, his manliness--in a word, his character. +If affection be not the governing principle in a household, +domestic life may be the most intolerable of despotisms. Without +justice, also, there can be neither love, confidence, nor respect, +on which all true domestic rule is founded. + +Erasmus speaks of Sir Thomas More's home as "a school and exercise +of the Christian religion." "No wrangling, no angry word was +heard in it; no one was idle; every one did his duty with +alacrity, and not without a temperate cheerfulness." Sir Thomas +won all hearts to obedience by his gentleness. He was a man +clothed in household goodness; and he ruled so gently and wisely, +that his home was pervaded by an atmosphere of love and duty. He +himself spoke of the hourly interchange of the smaller acts of +kindness with the several members of his family, as having a claim +upon his time as strong as those other public occupations of his +life which seemed to others so much more serious and important. + +But the man whose affections are quickened by home-life, does not +confine his sympathies within that comparatively narrow sphere. +His love enlarges in the family, and through the family it expands +into the world. "Love," says Emerson, "is a fire that, kindling +its first embers in the narrow nook of a private bosom, caught +from a wandering spark out of another private heart, glows and +enlarges until it warms and beams upon multitudes of men and +women, upon the universal heart of all, and so lights up the whole +world and nature with its generous flames." + +It is by the regimen of domestic affection that the heart of man +is best composed and regulated. The home is the woman's kingdom, +her state, her world--where she governs by affection, by +kindness, by the power of gentleness. There is nothing which so +settles the turbulence of a man's nature as his union in life with +a highminded woman. There he finds rest, contentment, and +happiness--rest of brain and peace of spirit. He will also often +find in her his best counsellor, for her instinctive tact will +usually lead him right when his own unaided reason might be apt to +go wrong. The true wife is a staff to lean upon in times of trial +and difficulty; and she is never wanting in sympathy and solace +when distress occurs or fortune frowns. In the time of youth, she +is a comfort and an ornament of man's life; and she remains a +faithful helpmate in maturer years, when life has ceased to be an +anticipation, and we live in its realities. + +What a happy man must Edmund Burke have been, when he could say of +his home, "Every care vanishes the moment I enter under my own +roof!" And Luther, a man full of human affection, speaking of his +wife, said, "I would not exchange my poverty with her for all the +riches of Croesus without her." Of marriage he observed: "The +utmost blessing that God can confer on a man is the possession of +a good and pious wife, with whom he may live in peace and +tranquillity--to whom he may confide his whole possessions, even +his life and welfare." And again he said, "To rise betimes, and +to marry young, are what no man ever repents of doing." + +For a man to enjoy true repose and happiness in marriage, he must +have in his wife a soul-mate as well as a helpmate. But it is not +requisite that she should be merely a pale copy of himself. A man +no more desires in his wife a manly woman, than the woman desires +in her husband a feminine man. A woman's best qualities do not +reside in her intellect, but in her affections. She gives +refreshment by her sympathies, rather than by her knowledge. "The +brain-women," says Oliver Wendell Holmes, "never interest us like +the heart-women." (5) Men are often so wearied with themselves, +that they are rather predisposed to admire qualities and tastes in +others different from their own. "If I were suddenly asked," says +Mr. Helps, "to give a proof of the goodness of God to us, I think +I should say that it is most manifest in the exquisite difference +He has made between the souls of men and women, so as to create +the possibility of the most comforting and charming companionship +that the mind of man can imagine." (6) But though no man may love +a woman for her understanding, it is not the less necessary for +her to cultivate it on that account. (7) There may be difference +in character, but there must be harmony of mind and sentiment-- +two intelligent souls as well as two loving hearts: + + "Two heads in council, two beside the hearth, + Two in the tangled business of the world, + Two in the liberal offices of life." + +There are few men who have written so wisely on the subject of +marriage as Sir Henry Taylor. What he says about the influence of +a happy union in its relation to successful statesmanship, applies +to all conditions of life. The true wife, he says, should possess +such qualities as will tend to make home as much as may be a place +of repose. To this end, she should have sense enough or worth +enough to exempt her husband as much as possible from the troubles +of family management, and more especially from all possibility of +debt. "She should be pleasing to his eyes and to his taste: the +taste goes deep into the nature of all men--love is hardly apart +from it; and in a life of care and excitement, that home which is +not the seat of love cannot be a place of repose; rest for the +brain, and peace for the spirit, being only to be had through the +softening of the affections. He should look for a clear +understanding, cheerfulness, and alacrity of mind, rather than +gaiety and brilliancy, and for a gentle tenderness of disposition +in preference to an impassioned nature. Lively talents are too +stimulating in a tired man's house--passion is too disturbing.... + + "Her love should be + A love that clings not, nor is exigent, + Encumbers not the active purposes, + Nor drains their source; but profers with free grace + Pleasure at pleasure touched, at pleasure waived, + A washing of the weary traveller's feet, + A quenching of his thirst, a sweet repose, + Alternate and preparative; in groves + Where, loving much the flower that loves the shade, + And loving much the shade that that flower loves, + He yet is unbewildered, unenslaved, + Thence starting light, and pleasantly let go + When serious service calls. (8) + +Some persons are disappointed in marriage, because they expect too +much from it; but many more, because they do not bring into the +co-partnership their fair share of cheerfulness, kindliness, +forbearance, and common sense. Their imagination has perhaps +pictured a condition never experienced on this side Heaven; and +when real life comes, with its troubles and cares, there is a +sudden waking-up as from a dream. Or they look for something +approaching perfection in their chosen companion, and discover by +experience that the fairest of characters have their weaknesses. +Yet it is often the very imperfection of human nature, rather than +its perfection, that makes the strongest claims on the forbearance +and sympathy of others, and, in affectionate and sensible natures, +tends to produce the closest unions. + +The golden rule of married life is, "Bear and forbear." Marriage, +like government, is a series of compromises. One must give and +take, refrain and restrain, endure and be patient. One may not be +blind to another's failings, but they may be borne with good- +natured forbearance. Of all qualities, good temper is the one +that wears and works the best in married life. Conjoined with +self-control, it gives patience--the patience to bear and +forbear, to listen without retort, to refrain until the angry +flash has passed. How true it is in marriage, that "the soft +answer turneth away wrath!" + +Burns the poet, in speaking of the qualities of a good wife, +divided them into ten parts. Four of these he gave to good +temper, two to good sense, one to wit, one to beauty--such as a +sweet face, eloquent eyes, a fine person, a graceful carriage; and +the other two parts he divided amongst the other qualities +belonging to or attending on a wife--such as fortune, +connections, education (that is, of a higher standard than +ordinary), family blood, &c.; but he said: "Divide those two +degrees as you please, only remember that all these minor +proportions must be expressed by fractions, for there is not any +one of them that is entitled to the dignity of an integer." + +It has been said that girls are very good at making nets, but +that it would be better still if they would learn to make cages. +Men are often as easily caught as birds, but as difficult to keep. +If the wife cannot make her home bright and happy, so that it +shall be the cleanest, sweetest, cheerfulest place that her +husband can find refuge in--a retreat from the toils and +troubles of the outer world--then God help the poor man, +for he is virtually homeless! + +No wise person will marry for beauty mainly. It may exercise a +powerful attraction in the first place, but it is found to be of +comparatively little consequence afterwards. Not that beauty of +person is to be underestimated, for, other things being equal, +handsomeness of form and beauty of features are the outward +manifestations of health. But to marry a handsome figure without +character, fine features unbeautified by sentiment or good-nature, +is the most deplorable of mistakes. As even the finest landscape, +seen daily, becomes monotonous, so does the most beautiful face, +unless a beautiful nature shines through it. The beauty of to-day +becomes commonplace to-morrow; whereas goodness, displayed through +the most ordinary features, is perennially lovely. Moreover, this +kind of beauty improves with age, and time ripens rather than +destroys it. After the first year, married people rarely think of +each other's features, and whether they be classically beautiful +or otherwise. But they never fail to be cognisant of each other's +temper. "When I see a man," says Addison, "with a sour rivelled +face, I cannot forbear pitying his wife; and when I meet with an +open ingenuous countenance, I think of the happiness of his +friends, his family, and his relations." + +We have given the views of the poet Burns as to the qualities +necessary in a good wife. Let us add the advice given by Lord +Burleigh to his son, embodying the experience of a wise statesman +and practised man of the world. "When it shall please God," said +he, "to bring thee to man's estate, use great providence and +circumspection in choosing thy wife; for from thence will spring +all thy future good or evil. And it is an action of thy life, +like unto a stratagem of war, wherein a man can err but once.... +Enquire diligently of her disposition, and how her parents have +been inclined in their youth. (9) Let her not be poor, how +generous (well-born) soever; for a man can buy nothing in the +market with gentility. Nor choose a base and uncomely creature +altogether for wealth; for it will cause contempt in others, and +loathing in thee. Neither make choice of a dwarf, or a fool; for +by the one thou shalt beget a race of pigmies, while the other +will be thy continual disgrace, and it will yirke (irk) thee to +hear her talk. For thou shalt find it to thy great grief, that +there is nothing more fulsome (disgusting) than a she-fool." + +A man's moral character is, necessarily, powerfully influenced by +his wife. A lower nature will drag him down, as a higher will +lift him up. The former will deaden his sympathies, dissipate his +energies, and distort his life; while the latter, by satisfying +his affections, will strengthen his moral nature, and by giving +him repose, tend to energise his intellect. Not only so, but a +woman of high principles will insensibly elevate the aims and +purposes of her husband, as one of low principles will +unconsciously degrade them. De Tocqueville was profoundly +impressed by this truth. He entertained the opinion that man +could have no such mainstay in life as the companionship of a wife +of good temper and high principle. He says that in the course of +his life, he had seen even weak men display real public virtue, +because they had by their side a woman of noble character, who +sustained them in their career, and exercised a fortifying +influence on their views of public duty; whilst, on the contrary, +he had still oftener seen men of great and generous instincts +transformed into vulgar self-seekers, by contact with women of +narrow natures, devoted to an imbecile love of pleasure, and from +whose minds the grand motive of Duty was altogether absent. + +De Tocqueville himself had the good fortune to be blessed with an +admirable wife: (10) and in his letters to his intimate friends, he +spoke most gratefully of the comfort and support he derived from +her sustaining courage, her equanimity of temper, and her nobility +of character. The more, indeed, that De Tocqueville saw of the +world and of practical life, the more convinced he became of the +necessity of healthy domestic conditions for a man's growth in +virtue and goodness. (11) Especially did he regard marriage as of +inestimable importance in regard to a man's true happiness; and he +was accustomed to speak of his own as the wisest action of his +life. "Many external circumstances of happiness," he said, "have +been granted to me. But more than all, I have to thank Heaven for +having bestowed on me true domestic happiness, the first of human +blessings. As I grow older, the portion of my life which in my +youth I used to look down upon, every day becomes more important +in my eyes, and would now easily console me for the loss of all +the rest." And again, writing to his bosom-friend, De Kergorlay, +he said: "Of all the blessings which God has given to me, the +greatest of all in my eyes is to have lighted on Marie. You +cannot imagine what she is in great trials. Usually so gentle, +she then becomes strong and energetic. She watches me without my +knowing it; she softens, calms, and strengthens me in difficulties +which disturb ME, but leave her serene." (12) In another letter he +says: "I cannot describe to you the happiness yielded in the long +run by the habitual society of a woman in whose soul all that is +good in your own is reflected naturally, and even improved. When +I say or do a thing which seems to me to be perfectly right, I +read immediately in Marie's countenance an expression of proud +satisfaction which elevates me. And so, when my conscience +reproaches me, her face instantly clouds over. Although I have +great power over her mind, I see with pleasure that she awes me; +and so long as I love her as I do now, I am sure that I shall +never allow myself to be drawn into anything that is wrong." + +In the retired life which De Tocqueville led as a literary man-- +political life being closed against him by the inflexible +independence of his character--his health failed, and he became +ill, irritable, and querulous. While proceeding with his last +work, 'L'Ancien Regime et la Revolution,' he wrote: "After sitting +at my desk for five or six hours, I can write no longer; the +machine refuses to act. I am in great want of rest, and of a long +rest. If you add all the perplexities that besiege an author +towards the end of his work, you will be able to imagine a very +wretched life. I could not go on with my task if it were not for +the refreshing calm of Marie's companionship. It would be +impossible to find a disposition forming a happier contrast to my +own. In my perpetual irritability of body and mind, she is a +providential resource that never fails me." (13) + +M. Guizot was, in like manner, sustained and encouraged, amidst +his many vicissitudes and disappointments, by his noble wife. If +he was treated with harshness by his political enemies, his +consolation was in the tender affection which filled his home with +sunshine. Though his public life was bracing and stimulating, he +felt, nevertheless, that it was cold and calculating, and neither +filled the soul nor elevated the character. "Man longs for a +happiness," he says in his 'Memoires,' more complete and more +tender than that which all the labours and triumphs of active +exertion and public importance can bestow. What I know to-day, at +the end of my race, I have felt when it began, and during its +continuance. Even in the midst of great undertakings, domestic +affections form the basis of life; and the most brilliant career +has only superficial and incomplete enjoyments, if a stranger to +the happy ties of family and friendship." + +The circumstances connected with M. Guizot's courtship and +marriage are curious and interesting. While a young man living by +his pen in Paris, writing books, reviews, and translations, he +formed a casual acquaintance with Mademoiselle Pauline de Meulan, +a lady of great ability, then editor of the PUBLICISTE. A severe +domestic calamity having befallen her, she fell ill, and was +unable for a time to carry on the heavy literary work connected +with her journal. At this juncture a letter without any signature +reached her one day, offering a supply of articles, which the +writer hoped would be worthy of the reputation of the PUBLICISTE. +The articles duly arrived, were accepted, and published. They +dealt with a great variety of subjects--art, literature, +theatricals, and general criticism. When the editor at length +recovered from her illness, the writer of the articles disclosed +himself: it was M. Guizot. An intimacy sprang up between them, +which ripened into mutual affection, and before long Mademoiselle +de Meulan became his wife. + +From that time forward, she shared in all her husband's joys and +sorrows, as well as in many of his labours. Before they became +united, he asked her if she thought she should ever become +dismayed at the vicissitudes of his destiny, which he then saw +looming before him. She replied that he might assure himself that +she would always passionately enjoy his triumphs, but never heave +a sigh over his defeats. When M. Guizot became first minister of +Louis Philippe, she wrote to a friend: "I now see my husband much +less than I desire, but still I see him.... If God spares us to +each other, I shall always be, in the midst of every trial and +apprehension, the happiest of beings." Little more than six +months after these words were written, the devoted wife was laid +in her grave; and her sorrowing husband was left thenceforth to +tread the journey of life alone. + +Burke was especially happy in his union with Miss Nugent, a +beautiful, affectionate, and highminded woman. The agitation +and anxiety of his public life was more than compensated +by his domestic happiness, which seems to have been complete. +It was a saying of Burke, thoroughly illustrative of his +character, that "to love the little platoon we belong to +in society is the germ of all public affections." His +description of his wife, in her youth, is probably one +of the finest word-portraits in the language:-- + +"She is handsome; but it is a beauty not arising from features, +from complexion, or from shape. She has all three in a high +degree, but it is not by these she touches the heart; it is all +that sweetness of temper, benevolence, innocence, and sensibility, +which a face can express, that forms her beauty. She has a face +that just raises your attention at first sight; it grows on you +every moment, and you wonder it did no more than raise your +attention at first. + +"Her eyes have a mild light, but they awe when she pleases; +they command, like a good man out of office, not by authority, +but by virtue. + +"Her stature is not tall; she is not made to be the admiration +of everybody, but the happiness of one. + +"She has all the firmness that does not exclude delicacy; +she has all the softness that does not imply weakness. + +"Her voice is a soft low music--not formed to rule in public +assemblies, but to charm those who can distinguish a company +from a crowd; it has this advantage--YOU MUST COME CLOSE TO +HER TO HEAR IT. + +"To describe her body describes her mind--one is the transcript +of the other; her understanding is not shown in the variety +of matters it exerts itself on, but in the goodness of the +choice she makes. + +"She does not display it so much in saying or doing striking +things, as in avoiding such as she ought not to say or do. + +"No person of so few years can know the world better; no person +was ever less corrupted by the knowledge of it. + +"Her politeness flows rather from a natural disposition to oblige, +than from any rules on that subject, and therefore never fails to +strike those who understand good breeding and those who do not. + +"She has a steady and firm mind, which takes no more from the +solidity of the female character than the solidity of marble does +from its polish and lustre. She has such virtues as make us value +the truly great of our own sex. She has all the winning graces +that make us love even the faults we see in the weak and +beautiful, in hers." + +Let us give, as a companion picture, the not less beautiful +delineation of a husband, that of Colonel Hutchinson, the +Commonwealth man, by his widow. Shortly before his death, +he enjoined her "not to grieve at the common rate of desolate +women." And, faithful to his injunction, instead of lamenting +his loss, she indulged her noble sorrow in depicting her husband +as he had lived. + +"They who dote on mortal excellences," she says, in her +Introduction to the 'Life,' "when, by the inevitable fate of all +things frail, their adored idols are taken from them, may let +loose the winds of passion to bring in a flood of sorrow, whose +ebbing tides carry away the dear memory of what they have lost; +and when comfort is essayed to such mourners, commonly all objects +are removed out of their view which may with their remembrance +renew the grief; and in time these remedies succeed, and +oblivion's curtain is by degrees drawn over the dead face; and +things less lovely are liked, while they are not viewed together +with that which was most excellent. But I, that am under a +command not to grieve at the common rate of desolate women, (14) +while I am studying which way to moderate my woe, and if it were +possible to augment my love, I can for the present find out none +more just to your dear father, nor consolatory to myself, than the +preservation of his memory, which I need not gild with such +flattering commendations as hired preachers do equally give to the +truly and titularly honourable. A naked undressed narrative, +speaking the simple truth of him, will deck him with more +substantial glory, than all the panegyrics the best pens could +ever consecrate to the virtues of the best men." + +The following is the wife's portrait of Colonel Hutchinson +as a husband:-- + +"For conjugal affection to his wife, it was such in him as +whosoever would draw out a rule of honour, kindness, and religion, +to be practised in that estate, need no more but exactly draw out +his example. Never man had a greater passion for a woman, nor a +more honourable esteem of a wife: yet he was not uxorious, nor +remitted he that just rule which it was her honour to obey, but +managed the reins of government with such prudence and affection, +that she who could not delight in such an honourable and +advantageable subjection, must have wanted a reasonable soul. + +"He governed by persuasion, which he never employed but to things +honourable and profitable to herself; he loved her soul and her +honour more than her outside, and yet he had ever for her person a +constant indulgence, exceeding the common temporary passion of the +most uxorious fools. If he esteemed her at a higher rate than she +in herself could have deserved, he was the author of that virtue +he doated on, while she only reflected his own glories upon him. +All that she was, was HIM, while he was here, and all that she is +now, at best, is but his pale shade. + +"So liberal was he to her, and of so generous a temper, that he +hated the mention of severed purses, his estate being so much at +her disposal that he never would receive an account of anything +she expended. So constant was he in his love, that when she +ceased to be young and lovely he began to show most fondness. He +loved her at such a kind and generous rate as words cannot +express. Yet even this, which was the highest love he or any man +could have, was bounded by a superior: he loved her in the Lord as +his fellow-creature, not his idol; but in such a manner as showed +that an affection, founded on the just rules of duty, far exceeds +every way all the irregular passions in the world. He loved God +above her, and all the other dear pledges of his heart, and for +his glory cheerfully resigned them." (15) + +Lady Rachel Russell is another of the women of history celebrated +for her devotion and faithfulness as a wife. She laboured and +pleaded for her husband's release so long as she could do so +with honour; but when she saw that all was in vain, she collected +her courage, and strove by her example to strengthen the resolution +of her dear lord. And when his last hour had nearly come, and +his wife and children waited to receive his parting embrace, +she, brave to the end, that she might not add to his distress, +concealed the agony of her grief under a seeming composure; +and they parted, after a tender adieu, in silence. After +she had gone, Lord William said, "Now the bitterness of +death is passed!" (16) + +We have spoken of the influence of a wife upon a man's character. +There are few men strong enough to resist the influence of a lower +character in a wife. If she do not sustain and elevate what is +highest in his nature, she will speedily reduce him to her own +level. Thus a wife may be the making or the unmaking of the best +of men. An illustration of this power is furnished in the life of +Bunyan. The profligate tinker had the good fortune to marry, in +early life, a worthy young woman of good parentage. "My mercy," +he himself says, "was to light upon a wife whose father and mother +were accounted godly. This woman and I, though we came together +as poor as poor might be (not having so much household stuff as a +dish or a spoon betwixt us both), yet she had for her part, 'The +Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven,' and 'The Practice of Piety,' which +her father had left her when he died." And by reading these and +other good books; helped by the kindly influence of his wife, +Bunyan was gradually reclaimed from his evil ways, and led gently +into the paths of peace. + +Richard Baxter, the Nonconformist divine, was far advanced in life +before he met the excellent woman who eventually became his wife. +He was too laboriously occupied in his vocation of minister to +have any time to spare for courtship; and his marriage was, as in +the case of Calvin, as much a matter of convenience as of love. +Miss Charlton, the lady of his choice, was the owner of property +in her own right; but lest it should be thought that Baxter +married her for "covetousness," he requested, first, that she +should give over to her relatives the principal part of her +fortune, and that "he should have nothing that before her marriage +was hers;" secondly, that she should so arrange her affairs "as +that he might be entangled in no lawsuits;" and, thirdly, "that +she should expect none of the time that his ministerial work might +require." These several conditions the bride having complied +with, the marriage took place, and proved a happy one. "We +lived," said Baxter, "in inviolated love and mutual complacency, +sensible of the benefit of mutual help, nearly nineteen years." +Yet the life of Baxter was one of great trials and troubles, +arising from the unsettled state of the times in which he lived. +He was hunted about from one part of the country to another, and +for several years he had no settled dwelling-place. "The women, +he gently remarks in his 'Life,' "have most of that sort of +trouble, but my wife easily bore it all." In the sixth year of +his marriage Baxter was brought before the magistrates at +Brentford, for holding a conventicle at Acton, and was sentenced +by them to be imprisoned in Clerkenwell Gaol. There he was joined +by his wife, who affectionately nursed him during his confinement. +"She was never so cheerful a companion to me," he says, "as in +prison, and was very much against me seeking to be released." At +length he was set at liberty by the judges of the Court of Common +Pleas, to whom he had appealed against the sentence of the +magistrates. At the death of Mrs. Baxter, after a very troubled +yet happy and cheerful life, her husband left a touching portrait +of the graces, virtues, and Christian character of this excellent +woman--one of the most charming things to be found in his works. + +The noble Count Zinzendorf was united to an equally noble woman, +who bore him up through life by her great spirit, and sustained +him in all his labours by her unfailing courage. "Twenty-four +years' experience has shown me," he said, "that just the helpmate +whom I have is the only one that could suit my vocation. Who else +could have so carried through my family affairs?--who lived so +spotlessly before the world? Who so wisely aided me in my +rejection of a dry morality?.... Who would, like she, without a +murmur, have seen her husband encounter such dangers by land and +sea?--who undertaken with him, and sustained, such astonishing +pilgrimages? Who, amid such difficulties, could have held up her +head and supported me?.... And finally, who, of all human beings, +could so well understand and interpret to others my inner and +outer being as this one, of such nobleness in her way of thinking, +such great intellectual capacity, and free from the theological +perplexities that so often enveloped me? + +One of the brave Dr. Livingstone's greatest trials during his +travels in South Africa was the death of his affectionate wife, +who had shared his dangers, and accompanied him in so many of his +wanderings. In communicating the intelligence of her decease at +Shupanga, on the River Zambesi, to his friend Sir Roderick +Murchison, Dr. Livingstone said: "I must confess that this heavy +stroke quite takes the heart out of me. Everything else that has +happened only made me more determined to overcome all +difficulties; but after this sad stroke I feel crushed and void of +strength. Only three short months of her society, after four +years separation! I married her for love, and the longer I lived +with her I loved her the more. A good wife, and a good, brave, +kindhearted mother was she, deserving all the praises you bestowed +upon her at our parting dinner, for teaching her own and the +native children, too, at Kolobeng. I try to bow to the blow as +from our Heavenly Father, who orders all things for us.... I shall +do my duty still, but it is with a darkened horizon that I again +set about it." + +Sir Samuel Romilly left behind him, in his Autobiography, a +touching picture of his wife, to whom he attributed no small +measure of the success and happiness that accompanied him through +life. "For the last fifteen years," he said, "my happiness has +been the constant study of the most excellent of wives: a woman in +whom a strong understanding, the noblest and most elevated +sentiments, and the most courageous virtue, are united to the +warmest affection, and to the utmost delicacy of mind and heart; +and all these intellectual perfections are graced by the most +splendid beauty that human eyes ever beheld." (17) Romilly's +affection and admiration for this noble woman endured to the end; +and when she died, the shock proved greater than his sensitive +nature could bear. Sleep left his eyelids, his mind became +unhinged, and three days after her death the sad event occurred +which brought his own valued life to a close. (18) + +Sir Francis Burdett, to whom Romilly had been often politically +opposed, fell into such a state of profound melancholy on the +death of his wife, that he persistently refused nourishment of any +kind, and died before the removal of her remains from the house; +and husband and wife were laid side by side in the same grave. + +It was grief for the loss of his wife that sent Sir Thomas Graham +into the army at the age of forty-three. Every one knows the +picture of the newly-wedded pair by Gainsborough--one of the most +exquisite of that painter's works. They lived happily together +for eighteen years, and then she died, leaving him inconsolable. +To forget his sorrow--and, as some thought, to get rid of the +weariness of his life without her--Graham joined Lord Hood as a +volunteer, and distinguished himself by the recklessness of his +bravery at the siege of Toulon. He served all through the +Peninsular War, first under Sir John Moore, and afterwards under +Wellington; rising through the various grades of the service, +until he rose to be second in command. He was commonly known as +the "hero of Barossa," because of his famous victory at that +place; and he was eventually raised to the peerage as Lord +Lynedoch, ending his days peacefully at a very advanced age. But +to the last he tenderly cherished the memory of his dead wife, to +the love of whom he may be said to have owed all his glory. +"Never," said Sheridan of him, when pronouncing his eulogy in +the House of Commons--"never was there seated a loftier spirit +in a braver heart." + +And so have noble wives cherished the memory of their husbands. +There is a celebrated monument in Vienna, erected to the memory of +one of the best generals of the Austrian army, on which there is +an inscription, setting forth his great services during the Seven +Years' War, concluding with the words, "NON PATRIA, NEC IMPERATOR, +SED CONJUX POSUIT." When Sir Albert Morton died, his wife's grief +was such that she shortly followed him, and was laid by his side. +Wotton's two lines on the event have been celebrated as containing +a volume in seventeen words: + + "He first deceased; she for a little tried + To live without him, liked it not, and died." + +So, when Washington's wife was informed that her dear lord had +suffered his last agony--had drawn his last breath, and departed +--she said: "'Tis well; all is now over. I shall soon follow him; +I have no more trials to pass through." + +Not only have women been the best companions, friends, and +consolers, but they have in many cases been the most effective +helpers of their husbands in their special lines of work. Galvani +was especially happy in his wife. She was the daughter of +Professor Galeazzi; and it is said to have been through her quick +observation of the circumstance of the leg of a frog, placed near +an electrical machine, becoming convulsed when touched by a knife, +that her husband was first led to investigate the science which +has since become identified with his name. Lavoisier's wife also +was a woman of real scientific ability, who not only shared in her +husband's pursuits, but even undertook the task of engraving the +plates that accompanied his 'Elements.' + +The late Dr. Buckland had another true helper in his wife, who +assisted him with her pen, prepared and mended his fossils, and +furnished many of the drawings and illustrations of his published +works. "Notwithstanding her devotion to her husband's pursuits," +says her son, Frank Buckland, in the preface to one of his +father's works, "she did not neglect the education of her +children, but occupied her mornings in superintending their +instruction in sound and useful knowledge. The sterling value of +her labours they now, in after-life, fully appreciate, and feel +most thankful that they were blessed with so good a mother." (19) + +A still more remarkable instance of helpfulness in a wife is +presented in the case of Huber, the Geneva naturalist. Huber was +blind from his seventeenth year, and yet he found means to study +and master a branch of natural history demanding the closest +observation and the keenest eyesight. It was through the eyes of +his wife that his mind worked as if they had been his own. She +encouraged her husband's studies as a means of alleviating his +privation, which at length he came to forget; and his life was as +prolonged and happy as is usual with most naturalists. He even +went so far as to declare that he should be miserable were he to +regain his eyesight. "I should not know," he said, "to what +extent a person in my situation could be beloved; besides, to me +my wife is always young, fresh, and pretty, which is no light +matter." Huber's great work on 'Bees' is still regarded as a +masterpiece, embodying a vast amount of original observation on +their habits and natural history. Indeed, while reading his +descriptions, one would suppose that they were the work of a +singularly keensighted man, rather than of one who had been +entirely blind for twenty-five years at the time at which +he wrote them. + +Not less touching was the devotion of Lady Hamilton to the service +of her husband, the late Sir William Hamilton, Professor of Logic +and Metaphysics in the University of Edinburgh. After he had been +stricken by paralysis through overwork at the age of fifty-six, +she became hands, eyes, mind, and everything to him. She +identified herself with his work, read and consulted books for +him, copied out and corrected his lectures, and relieved him of +all business which she felt herself competent to undertake. +Indeed, her conduct as a wife was nothing short of heroic; and it +is probable that but for her devoted and more than wifely help, +and her rare practical ability, the greatest of her husband's +works would never have seen the light. He was by nature +unmethodical and disorderly, and she supplied him with method and +orderliness. His temperament was studious but indolent, while she +was active and energetic. She abounded in the qualities which he +most lacked. He had the genius, to which her vigorous nature +gave the force and impulse. + +When Sir William Hamilton was elected to his Professorship, after +a severe and even bitter contest, his opponents, professing to +regard him as a visionary, predicted that he could never teach a +class of students, and that his appointment would prove a total +failure. He determined, with the help of his wife, to justify the +choice of his supporters, and to prove that his enemies were false +prophets. Having no stock of lectures on hand, each lecture of +the first course was written out day by day, as it was to be +delivered on the following morning. His wife sat up with him +night after night, to write out a fair copy of the lectures from +the rough sheets, which he drafted in the adjoining room. "On +some occasions," says his biographer, "the subject of the lectures +would prove less easily managed than on others; and then Sir +William would be found writing as late as nine o'clock in the +morning, while his faithful but wearied amanuensis had fallen +asleep on a sofa." (20) + +Sometimes the finishing touches to the lecture were left to be +given just before the class-hour. Thus helped, Sir William +completed his course; his reputation as a lecturer was +established; and he eventually became recognised throughout Europe +as one of the leading intellects of his time. (21) + +The woman who soothes anxiety by her presence, who charms and +allays irritability by her sweetness of temper, is a consoler as +well as a true helper. Niebuhr always spoke of his wife as a +fellow-worker with him in this sense. Without the peace and +consolation which be found in her society, his nature would have +fretted in comparative uselessness. "Her sweetness of temper and +her love," said he, "raise me above the earth, and in a manner +separate me from this life." But she was a helper in another and +more direct way. Niebuhr was accustomed to discuss with his wife +every historical discovery, every political event, every novelty +in literature; and it was mainly for her pleasure and approbation, +in the first instance, that he laboured while preparing himself +for the instruction of the world at large. + +The wife of John Stuart Mill was another worthy helper of her +husband, though in a more abstruse department of study, as we +learn from his touching dedication of the treatise 'On Liberty':-- +"To the beloved and deplored memory of her who was the inspirer, +and in part the author, of all that is best in my writings--the +friend and wife, whose exalted sense of truth and right was my +strongest incitement, and whose approbation was my chief reward, I +dedicate this volume." Not less touching is the testimony borne +by another great living writer to the character of his wife, in +the inscription upon the tombstone of Mrs. Carlyle in Haddington +Churchyard, where are inscribed these words:- "In her bright +existence, she had more sorrows than are common, but also a soft +amiability, a capacity of discernment, and a noble loyalty of +heart, which are rare. For forty years she was the true and +loving helpmate of her husband, and by act and word unweariedly +forwarded him as none else could, in all of worthy that he +did or attempted" + +The married life of Faraday was eminently happy. In his wife he +found, at the same time, a true helpmate and soul-mate. She +supported, cheered, and strengthened him on his way through life, +giving him "the clear contentment of a heart at ease." In his +diary he speaks of his marriage as "a source of honour and +happiness far exceeding all the rest." After twentyeight years' +experience, he spoke of it as "an event which, more than any +other, had contributed to his earthly happiness and healthy state +of mind.... The union (said he) has in nowise changed, except +only in the depth and strength of its character." And for six- +and-forty years did the union continue unbroken; the love of the +old man remaining as fresh, as earnest, as heart-whole, as in the +days of his impetuous youth. In this case, marriage was as-- + +"A golden chain let down from heaven, +Whose links are bright and even; +That falls like sleep on lovers, and combines +The soft and sweetest minds +In equal knots." + +Besides being a helper, woman is emphatically a consoler. Her +sympathy is unfailing. She soothes, cheers, and comforts. Never +was this more true than in the case of the wife of Tom Hood, whose +tender devotion to him, during a life that was a prolonged +illness, is one of the most affecting things in biography. A +woman of excellent good sense, she appreciated her husband's +genius, and, by encouragement and sympathy, cheered and heartened +him to renewed effort in many a weary struggle for life. She +created about him an atmosphere of hope and cheerfulness, and +nowhere did the sunshine of her love seem so bright as when +lighting up the couch of her invalid husband. + +Nor was he unconscious of her worth. In one of his letters to +her, when absent from his side, Hood said: "I never was anything, +Dearest, till I knew you; and I have been a better, happier, and +more prosperous man ever since. Lay by that truth in lavender, +Sweetest, and remind me of it when I fail. I am writing warmly +and fondly, but not without good cause. First, your own +affectionate letter, lately received; next, the remembrance of our +dear children, pledges--what darling ones!--of our old familiar +love; then, a delicious impulse to pour out the overflowings of my +heart into yours; and last, not least, the knowledge that your +dear eyes will read what my hand is now writing. Perhaps there is +an afterthought that, whatever may befall me, the wife of my bosom +will have the acknowledgment of her tenderness, worth, excellence +--all that is wifely or womanly, from my pen." In another letter, +also written to his wife during a brief absence, there is a +natural touch, showing his deep affection for her: "I went and +retraced our walk in the park, and sat down on the same seat, and +felt happier and better." + +But not only was Mrs. Hood a consoler, she was also a helper of +her husband in his special work. He had such confidence in her +judgment, that he read, and re-read, and corrected with her +assistance all that he wrote. Many of his pieces were first +dedicated to her; and her ready memory often supplied him with +the necessary references and quotations. Thus, in the roll +of noble wives of men of genius, Mrs. Hood will always be +entitled to take a foremost place. + +Not less effective as a literary helper was Lady Napier, the wife +of Sir William Napier, historian of the Peninsular War. She +encouraged him to undertake the work, and without her help he +would have experienced great difficulty in completing it. She +translated and epitomized the immense mass of original documents, +many of them in cipher, on which it was in a great measure +founded. When the Duke of Wellington was told of the art and +industry she had displayed in deciphering King Joseph's portfolio, +and the immense mass of correspondence taken at Vittoria, he at +first would hardly believe it, adding--"I would have given +20,000L. to any person who could have done this for me in the +Peninsula." Sir William Napier's handwriting being almost +illegible, Lady Napier made out his rough interlined manuscript, +which he himself could scarcely read, and wrote out a full fair +copy for the printer; and all this vast labour she undertook and +accomplished, according to the testimony of her husband, without +having for a moment neglected the care and education of a large +family. When Sir William lay on his deathbed, Lady Napier was at +the same time dangerously ill; but she was wheeled into his room +on a sofa, and the two took their silent farewell of each other. +The husband died first; in a few weeks the wife followed him, and +they sleep side by side in the same grave. + +Many other similar truehearted wives rise up in the memory, to +recite whose praises would more than fill up our remaining space-- +such as Flaxman's wife, Ann Denham, who cheered and encouraged her +husband through life in the prosecution of his art, accompanying +him to Rome, sharing in his labours and anxieties, and finally in +his triumphs, and to whom Flaxman, in the fortieth year of their +married life, dedicated his beautiful designs illustrative of +Faith, Hope, and Charity, in token of his deep and undimmed +affection;--such as Katherine Boutcher, "dark-eyed Kate," the +wife of William Blake, who believed her husband to be the first +genius on earth, worked off the impressions of his plates and +coloured them beautifully with her own hand, bore with him in all +his erratic ways, sympathised with him in his sorrows and joys for +forty-five years, and comforted him until his dying hour--his +last sketch, made in his seventy-first year, being a likeness of +himself, before making which, seeing his wife crying by his side, +he said, "Stay, Kate! just keep as you are; I will draw your +portrait, for you have ever been an angel to me;"--such again as +Lady Franklin, the true and noble woman, who never rested in her +endeavours to penetrate the secret of the Polar Sea and prosecute +the search for her long-lost husband--undaunted by failure, and +persevering in her determination with a devotion and singleness of +purpose altogether unparalleled;--or such again as the wife of +Zimmermann, whose intense melancholy she strove in vain to +assuage, sympathizing with him, listening to him, and endeavouring +to understand him--and to whom, when on her deathbed, about to +leave him for ever, she addressed the touching words, "My poor +Zimmermann! who will now understand thee?" + +Wives have actively helped their husbands in other ways. Before +Weinsberg surrendered to its besiegers, the women of the place +asked permission of the captors to remove their valuables. The +permission was granted, and shortly after, the women were seen +issuing from the gates carrying their husbands on their shoulders. +Lord Nithsdale owed his escape from prison to the address of his +wife, who changed garments with him, sending him forth in her +stead, and herself remaining prisoner,--an example which was +successfully repeated by Madame de Lavalette. + +But the most remarkable instance of the release of a husband +through the devotion of a wife, was that of the celebrated +Grotius. He had lain for nearly twenty months in the strong +fortress of Loevestein, near Gorcum, having been condemned by the +government of the United Provinces to perpetual imprisonment. His +wife, having been allowed to share his cell, greatly relieved his +solitude. She was permitted to go into the town twice a week, and +bring her husband books, of which he required a large number to +enable him to prosecute his studies. At length a large chest was +required to hold them. This the sentries at first examined with +great strictness, but, finding that it only contained books +(amongst others Arminian books) and linen, they at length gave up +the search, and it was allowed to pass out and in as a matter of +course. This led Grotius' wife to conceive the idea of releasing +him; and she persuaded him one day to deposit himself in the chest +instead of the outgoing books. When the two soldiers appointed to +remove it took it up, they felt it to be considerably heavier than +usual, and one of them asked, jestingly, "Have we got the Arminian +himself here?" to which the ready-witted wife replied, "Yes, +perhaps some Arminian books." The chest reached Gorcum in safety; +the captive was released; and Grotius escaped across the frontier +into Brabant, and afterwards into France, where he was rejoined +by his wife. + +Trial and suffering are the tests of married life. They bring out +the real character, and often tend to produce the closest union. +They may even be the spring of the purest happiness. +Uninterrupted joy, like uninterrupted success, is not good for +either man or woman. When Heine's wife died, he began to reflect +upon the loss he had sustained. They had both known poverty, and +struggled through it hand-in-hand; and it was his greatest sorrow +that she was taken from him at the moment when fortune was +beginning to smile upon him, but too late for her to share in his +prosperity. "Alas I" said he, "amongst my griefs must I reckon +even her love--the strongest, truest, that ever inspired the +heart of woman--which made me the happiest of mortals, and yet +was to me a fountain of a thousand distresses, inquietudes, and +cares? To entire cheerfulness, perhaps, she never attained; but +for what unspeakable sweetness, what exalted, enrapturing joys, is +not love indebted to sorrow! Amidst growing anxieties, with the +torture of anguish in my heart, I have been made, even by the loss +which caused me this anguish and these anxieties, inexpressibly +happy! When tears flowed over our cheeks, did not a nameless, +seldom-felt delight stream through my breast, oppressed equally +by joy and sorrow!" + +There is a degree of sentiment in German love which seems strange +to English readers,--such as we find depicted in the lives of +Novalis, Jung Stilling, Fichte, Jean Paul, and others that might +be named. The German betrothal is a ceremony of almost equal +importance to the marriage itself; and in that state the +sentiments are allowed free play, whilst English lovers are +restrained, shy, and as if ashamed of their feelings. Take, for +instance, the case of Herder, whom his future wife first saw in +the pulpit. "I heard," she says, "the voice of an angel, and +soul's words such as I had never heard before. In the afternoon I +saw him, and stammered out my thanks to him; from this time forth +our souls were one." They were betrothed long before their means +would permit them to marry; but at length they were united. "We +were married," says Caroline, the wife, "by the rose-light of a +beautiful evening. We were one heart, one soul." Herder was +equally ecstatic in his language. "I have a wife," he wrote +to Jacobi, "that is the tree, the consolation, and the happiness +of my life. Even in flying transient thoughts (which often +surprise us), we are one!" + +Take, again, the case of Fichte, in whose history his courtship +and marriage form a beautiful episode. He was a poor German +student, living with a family at Zurich in the capacity of tutor, +when he first made the acquaintance of Johanna Maria Hahn, a niece +of Klopstock. Her position in life was higher than that of +Fichte; nevertheless, she regarded him with sincere admiration. +When Fichte was about to leave Zurich, his troth plighted to her, +she, knowing him to be very poor, offered him a gift of money +before setting out. He was inexpressibly hurt by the offer, and, +at first, even doubted whether she could really love him; but, on +second thoughts, he wrote to her, expressing his deep thanks, but, +at the same time, the impossibility of his accepting such a gift +from her. He succeeded in reaching his destination, though +entirely destitute of means. After a long and hard struggle with +the world, extending over many years, Fichte was at length earning +money enough to enable him to marry. In one of his charming +letters to his betrothed he said:--"And so, dearest, I solemnly +devote myself to thee, and thank thee that thou hast thought me +not unworthy to be thy companion on the journey of life.... There +is no land of happiness here below--I know it now--but a land of +toil, where every joy but strengthens us for greater labour. +Hand-in-hand we shall traverse it, and encourage and strengthen +each other, until our spirits--oh, may it be together!--shall +rise to the eternal fountain of all peace." + +The married life of Fichte was very happy. His wife proved a true +and highminded helpmate. During the War of Liberation she was +assiduous in her attention to the wounded in the hospitals, where +she caught a malignant fever, which nearly carried her off. +Fichte himself caught the same disease, and was for a time +completely prostrated; but he lived for a few more years and died +at the early age of fifty-two, consumed by his own fire. + +What a contrast does the courtship and married life of the blunt +and practical William Cobbett present to the aesthetical and +sentimental love of these highly refined Germans! Not less +honest, not less true, but, as some would think, comparatively +coarse and vulgar. When he first set eyes upon the girl that was +afterwards to become his wife, she was only thirteen years old, +and he was twenty-one--a sergeant-major in a foot regiment +stationed at St. John's in New Brunswick. He was passing the +door of her father's house one day in winter, and saw the girl +out in the snow, scrubbing a washing-tub. He said at once to +himself, "That's the girl for me." He made her acquaintance, +and resolved that she should be his wife so soon as he could +get discharged from the army. + +On the eve of the girl's return to Woolwich with her father, who +was a sergeant-major in the artillery, Cobbett sent her a hundred +and fifty guineas which he had saved, in order that she might be +able to live without hard work until his return to England. The +girl departed, taking with her the money; and five years later +Cobbett obtained his discharge. On reaching London, he made haste +to call upon the sergeant-major's daughter. "I found," he says, +"my little girl a servant-of-all-work (and hard work it was), at +five pounds a year, in the house of a Captain Brisac; and, without +hardly saying a word about the matter, she put into my hands the +whole of my hundred and fifty guineas, unbroken." Admiration of +her conduct was now added to love of her person, and Cobbett +shortly after married the girl, who proved an excellent wife. He +was, indeed, never tired of speaking her praises, and it was his +pride to attribute to her all the comfort and much of the success +of his after-life. + +Though Cobbett was regarded by many in his lifetime as a coarse, +hard, practical man, full of prejudices, there was yet a strong +undercurrent of poetry in his nature; and, while he declaimed +against sentiment, there were few men more thoroughly imbued with +sentiment of the best kind. He had the tenderest regard for the +character of woman. He respected her purity and her virtue, and +in his 'Advice to Young Men,' he has painted the true womanly +woman--the helpful, cheerful, affectionate wife--with a +vividness and brightness, and, at the same time, a force of good +sense, that has never been surpassed by any English writer. +Cobbett was anything but refined, in the conventional sense of the +word; but he was pure, temperate, self-denying, industrious, +vigorous, and energetic, in an eminent degree. Many of his views +were, no doubt, wrong, but they were his own, for he insisted on +thinking for himself in everything. Though few men took a firmer +grasp of the real than he did, perhaps still fewer were more +swayed by the ideal. In word-pictures of his own emotions, he is +unsurpassed. Indeed, Cobbett might almost be regarded as one of +the greatest prose poets of English real life. + + + +NOTES + +(1) Mungo Park declared that he was more affected by this incident +than by any other that befel him in the course of his travels. As +he lay down to sleep on the mat spread for him on the floor of the +hut, his benefactress called to the female part of the family to +resume their task of spinning cotton, in which they continued +employed far into the night. "They lightened their labour with +songs," says the traveller, "one of which was composed extempore, +for I was myself the subject of it; it was sung by one of the +young women, the rest joining in a chorus. The air was sweet and +plaintive, and the words, literally translated, were these: 'The +winds roared, and the rains fell. The poor white man, faint and +weary, came and sat under our tree. He has no mother to bring him +milk, no wife to grind his corn.' Chorus--'Let us pity the white +man, no mother has he!' Trifling as this recital may appear, to a +person in my situation the circumstance was affecting in the +highest degree. I was so oppressed by such unexpected kindness, +that sleep fled before my eyes." + +(2)'Transformation, or Monte Beni.' + +(3) 'Portraits Contemporains,' iii. 519. + +(4) Mr. Arthur Helps, in one of his Essays, has wisely said: "You +observe a man becoming day by day richer, or advancing in station, +or increasing in professional reputation, and you set him down as +a successful man in life. But if his home is an ill-regulated +one, where no links of affection extend throughout the family-- +whose former domestics (and he has had more of them than he can +well remember) look back upon their sojourn with him as one +unblessed by kind words or deeds--I contend that that man has not +been successful. Whatever good fortune he may have in the world, +it is to be remembered that he has always left one important +fortress untaken behind him. That man's life does not surely read +well whose benevolence has found no central home. It may have +sent forth rays in various directions, but there should have been +a warm focus of love--that home-nest which is formed round a good +mans heart."--CLAIMS OF LABOUR. + +(5) "The red heart sends all its instincts up to the white brain, to +be analysed, chilled, blanched, and so become pure reason--which +is just exactly what we do NOT want of women as women. The +current should run the other way. The nice, calm, cold thought, +which, in women, shapes itself so rapidly that they hardly know it +as thought, should always travel to the lips VIA the heart. +It does so in those women whom all love and admire.... +The brain-women never interest us like the heart-women; +white roses please less than red."--THE PROFESSOR AT THE +BREAKFAST TABLE, by Oliver Wendell Holmes. + +(6) 'The War and General Culture,' 1871. + +(7) "Depend upon it, men set more value on the cultivated minds than +on the accomplishments of women, which they are rarely able to +appreciate. It is a common error, but it is an error, that +literature unfits women for the everyday business of life. It is +not so with men. You see those of the most cultivated minds +constantly devoting their time and attention to the most homely +objects. Literature gives women a real and proper weight in +society, but then they must use it with discretion." +--THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH. + +(8) 'The Statesman,' pp. 73-75. + +(9) Fuller, the Church historian, with his usual homely mother-wit, +speaking of the choice of a wife, said briefly, "Take the daughter +of a good mother." + +(10) She was an Englishwoman--a Miss Motley. It maybe mentioned that +amongst other distinguished Frenchmen who have married English +wives, were Sismondi, Alfred de Vigny, and Lamartine. + +(11) "Plus je roule dans ce monde, et plus je suis amene a penser +qu'il n'y a que le bonheur domestique qui signifie quelque chose." +--OEUVRES ET CORRESPONDENCE. + +(12) De Tocqueville's 'Memoir and Remains,' vol. i. p. 408. + +(13) De Tocqueville's 'Memoir and Remains,' vol. ii. p. 48. + +(14) Colonel Hutchinson was an uncompromising republican, thoroughly +brave, highminded, and pious. At the Restoration, he was +discharged from Parliament, and from all offices of state for +ever. He retired to his estate at Owthorp, near Nottingham, but +was shortly after arrested and imprisoned in the Tower. From +thence he was removed to Sandown Castle, near Deal, where he lay +for eleven months, and died on September 11th, 1664. The wife +petitioned for leave to share his prison, but was refused. When +he felt himself dying, knowing the deep sorrow which his death +would occasion to his wife, he left this message, which was +conveyed to her: "Let her, as she is above other women, show +herself on this occasion a good Christian, and above the pitch of +ordinary women." Hence the wife's allusion to her husband's +"command" in the above passage. + +(15) Mrs. Lucy Hutchinson to her children concerning their father: +'Memoirs of the Life of Col. Hutchinson' (Bohn's Ed.), pp. 29-30. + +(16) On the Declaration of American Independence, the first John Adams, +afterwards President of the United States, bought a copy of the +'Life and Letters of Lady Russell,' and presented it to his wife, +"with an express intent and desire" (as stated by himself), "that +she should consider it a mirror in which to contemplate herself; +for, at that time, I thought it extremely probable, from the +daring and dangerous career I was determined to run, that she +would one day find herself in the situation of Lady Russell, her +husband without a head:" Speaking of his wife in connection with +the fact, Mr. Adams added: "Like Lady Russell, she never, by word +or look, discouraged me from running all hazards for the salvation +of my country's liberties. She was willing to share with me, and +that her children should share with us both, in all the dangerous +consequences we had to hazard." + +(17) 'Memoirs of the Life of Sir Samuel Romily,' vol. i. p. 41. + +(18) It is a singular circumstance that in the parish church of +St. Bride, Fleet Street, there is a tablet on the wall with an +inscription to the memory of Isaac Romilly, F.R.S., who died in +1759, of a broken heart, seven days after the decease of a +beloved wife--CHAMBERS' BOOK OF DAYS, vol. ii. p. 539. + +(19) Mr. Frank Buckland says "During the long period that Dr. +Buckland was engaged in writing the book which I now have the +honour of editing, my mother sat up night after night, for weeks +and months consecutively, writing to my father's dictation; and +this often till the sun's rays, shining through the shutters at +early morn, warned the husband to cease from thinking, and the +wife to rest her weary hand. Not only with her pen did she +render material assistance, but her natural talent in the use +of her pencil enabled her to give accurate illustrations and +finished drawings, many of which are perpetuated in Dr. Buckland's +works. She was also particularly clever and neat in mending +broken fossils; and there are many specimens in the Oxford Museum, +now exhibiting their natural forms and beauty, which were restored +by her perseverance to shape from a mass of broken and almost +comminuted fragments." + +(20) Veitch's 'Memoirs of Sir William Hamilton.' + +(21) The following extract from Mr. Veitch's biography will give +one an idea of the extraordinary labours of Lady Hamilton, to +whose unfailing devotion to the service of her husband the world +of intellect has been so much indebted: "The number of pages +in her handwriting," says Mr. Veitch,--"filled with abstruse +metaphysical matter, original and quoted, bristling with +proportional and syllogistic formulae--that are still preserved, +is perfectly marvellous. Everything that was sent to the press, +and all the courses of lectures, were written by her, either to +dictation, or from a copy. This work she did in the truest spirit +of love and devotion. She had a power, moreover, of keeping her +husband up to what he had to do. She contended wisely against a +sort of energetic indolence which characterised him, and which, +while he was always labouring, made him apt to put aside the task +actually before him--sometimes diverted by subjects of inquiry +suggested in the course of study on the matter in hand, sometimes +discouraged by the difficulty of reducing to order the immense +mass of materials he had accumulated in connection with it. Then +her resolution and cheerful disposition sustained and refreshed +him, and never more so than when, during the last twelve years of +his life, his bodily strength was broken, and his spirit, though +languid, yet ceased not from mental toil. The truth is, that Sir +William's marriage, his comparatively limited circumstances, and +the character of his wife, supplied to a nature that would have +been contented to spend its mighty energies in work that brought +no reward but in the doing of it, and that might never have been +made publicly known or available, the practical force and impulse +which enabled him to accomplish what he actually did in literature +and philosophy. It was this influence, without doubt, which saved +him from utter absorption in his world of rare, noble, and +elevated, but ever-increasingly unattainable ideas. But for it, +the serene sea of abstract thought might have held him becalmed +for life; and in the absence of all utterance of definite +knowledge of his conclusions, the world might have been left to an +ignorant and mysterious wonder about the unprofitable scholar." + + + +CHAPTER XII--THE DISCIPLINE OF EXPERIENCE. + + + + "I would the great would grow like thee. + Who grewest not alone in power + And knowledge, but by year and hour + In reverence and in charity."--TENNYSON. + + "Not to be unhappy is unhappynesse, + And misery not t'have known miserie; + For the best way unto discretion is + The way that leades us by adversitie; + And men are better shew'd what is amisse, + By th'expert finger of calamitie, + Than they can be with all that fortune brings, + Who never shewes them the true face of things."--DANIEL. + + "A lump of wo affliction is, + Yet thence I borrow lumps of bliss; + Though few can see a blessing in't, + It is my furnace and my mint." + --ERSKINE'S GOSPEL SONNETS. + + "Crosses grow anchors, bear as thou shouldst so + Thy cross, and that cross grows an anchor too."--DONNE. + + "Be the day weary, or be the day long, + At length it ringeth to Evensong."--ANCIENT COUPLET. + + +Practical wisdom is only to be learnt in the school of experience. +Precepts and instructions are useful so far as they go, but, +without the discipline of real life, they remain of the nature of +theory only. The hard facts of existence have to be faced, to +give that touch of truth to character which can never be imparted +by reading or tuition, but only by contact with the broad +instincts of common men and women. + +To be worth anything, character must be capable of standing firm +upon its feet in the world of daily work, temptation, and trial; +and able to bear the wear-and-tear of actual life. Cloistered +virtues do not count for much. The life that rejoices in solitude +may be only rejoicing in selfishness. Seclusion may indicate +contempt for others; though more usually it means indolence, +cowardice, or self-indulgence. To every human being belongs his +fair share of manful toil and human duty; and it cannot be shirked +without loss to the individual himself, as well as to the +community to which he belongs. It is only by mixing in the daily +life of the world, and taking part in its affairs, that practical +knowledge can be acquired, and wisdom learnt. It is there that we +find our chief sphere of duty, that we learn the discipline of +work, and that we educate ourselves in that patience, diligence, +and endurance which shape and consolidate the character. There we +encounter the difficulties, trials, and temptations which, +according as we deal with them, give a colour to our entire after- +life; and there, too, we become subject to the great discipline of +suffering, from which we learn far more than from the safe +seclusion of the study or the cloister. + +Contact with others is also requisite to enable a man to know +himself. It is only by mixing freely in the world that one can +form a proper estimate of his own capacity. Without such +experience, one is apt to become conceited, puffed-up, and +arrogant; at all events, he will remain ignorant of himself, +though he may heretofore have enjoyed no other company. + +Swift once said: "It is an uncontroverted truth, that no man ever +made an ill-figure who understood his own talents, nor a good one +who mistook them." Many persons, however, are readier to take +measure of the capacity of others than of themselves. "Bring him +to me," said a certain Dr. Tronchin, of Geneva, speaking of +Rousseau--"Bring him to me, that I may see whether he has got +anything in him!"--the probability being that Rousseau, who knew +himself better, was much more likely to take measure of Tronchin +than Tronchin was to take measure of him. + +A due amount of self-knowledge is, therefore, necessary for those +who would BE anything or DO anything in the world. It is also one +of the first essentials to the formation of distinct personal +convictions. Frederic Perthes once said to a young friend: "You +know only too well what you CAN do; but till you have learned what +you CANNOT do, you will neither accomplish anything of moment, nor +know inward peace." + +Any one who would profit by experience will never be above asking +for help. He who thinks himself already too wise to learn of +others, will never succeed in doing anything either good or great. +We have to keep our minds and hearts open, and never be ashamed to +learn, with the assistance of those who are wiser and more +experienced than ourselves. + +The man made wise by experience endeavours to judge correctly of +the thugs which come under his observation, and form the subject +of his daily life. What we call common sense is, for the most +part, but the result of common experience wisely improved. Nor is +great ability necessary to acquire it, so much as patience, +accuracy, and watchfulness. Hazlitt thought the most sensible +people to be met with are intelligent men of business and of the +world, who argue from what they see and know, instead of spinning +cobweb distinctions of what things ought to be. + +For the same reason, women often display more good sense than men, +having fewer pretensions, and judging of things naturally, by the +involuntary impression they make on the mind. Their intuitive +powers are quicker, their perceptions more acute, their sympathies +more lively, and their manners more adaptive to particular ends. +Hence their greater tact as displayed in the management of others, +women of apparently slender intellectual powers often contriving +to control and regulate the conduct of men of even the most +impracticable nature. Pope paid a high compliment to the +tact and good sense of Mary, Queen of William III., when +he described her as possessing, not a science, but (what was +worth all else) prudence. + +The whole of life may be regarded as a great school of experience, +in which men and women are the pupils. As in a school, many of +the lessons learnt there must needs be taken on trust. We may not +understand them, and may possibly think it hard that we have to +learn them, especially where the teachers are trials, sorrows, +temptations, and difficulties; and yet we must not only accept +their lessons, but recognise them as being divinely appointed. + +To what extent have the pupils profited by their experience in the +school of life? What advantage have they taken of their +opportunities for learning? What have they gained in discipline +of heart and mind?--how much in growth of wisdom, courage, self- +control? Have they preserved their integrity amidst prosperity, +and enjoyed life in temperance and moderation? Or, has life been +with them a mere feast of selfishness, without care or thought for +others? What have they learnt from trial and adversity? Have +they learnt patience, submission, and trust in God?--or have they +learnt nothing but impatience, querulousness, and discontent? + +The results of experience are, of course, only to be achieved by +living; and living is a question of time. The man of experience +learns to rely upon Time as his helper. "Time and I against any +two," was a maxim of Cardinal Mazarin. Time has been described as +a beautifier and as a consoler; but it is also a teacher. It is +the food of experience, the soil of wisdom. It may be the friend +or the enemy of youth; and Time will sit beside the old as a +consoler or as a tormentor, according as it has been used or +misused, and the past life has been well or ill spent. + +Time," says George Herbert, "is the rider that breaks youth." To +the young, how bright the new world looks!--how full of novelty, +of enjoyment, of pleasure! But as years pass, we find the world +to be a place of sorrow as well as of joy. As we proceed through +life, many dark vistas open upon us--of toil, suffering, +difficulty, perhaps misfortune and failure. Happy they who can +pass through and amidst such trials with a firm mind and pure +heart, encountering trials with cheerfulness, and standing erect +beneath even the heaviest burden! + +A little youthful ardour is a great help in life, and is useful as +an energetic motive power. It is gradually cooled down by Time, +no matter how glowing it has been, while it is trained and subdued +by experience. But it is a healthy and hopeful indication of +character,--to be encouraged in a right direction, and not to be +sneered down and repressed. It is a sign of a vigorous unselfish +nature, as egotism is of a narrow and selfish one; and to begin +life with egotism and self-sufficiency is fatal to all breadth and +vigour of character. Life, in such a case, would be like a year +in which there was no spring. Without a generous seedtime, there +will be an unflowering summer and an unproductive harvest. And +youth is the springtime of life, in which, if there be not a fair +share of enthusiasm, little will be attempted, and still less +done. It also considerably helps the working quality, inspiring +confidence and hope, and carrying one through the dry details of +business and duty with cheerfulness and joy. + +"It is the due admixture of romance and reality," said Sir Henry +Lawrence, "that best carries a man through life... The quality of +romance or enthusiasm is to be valued as an energy imparted to the +human mind to prompt and sustain its noblest efforts." Sir Henry +always urged upon young men, not that they should repress +enthusiasm, but sedulously cultivate and direct the feeling, as +one implanted for wise and noble purposes. "When the two +faculties of romance and reality," he said, "are duly blended, +reality pursues a straight rough path to a desirable and +practicable result; while romance beguiles the road by pointing +out its beauties--by bestowing a deep and practical conviction +that, even in this dark and material existence, there may be found +a joy with which a stranger intermeddleth not--a light that +shineth more and more unto the perfect day." (1) + +It was characteristic of Joseph Lancaster, when a boy of only +fourteen years of age, after reading 'Clarkson on the Slave +Trade,' to form the resolution of leaving his home and going out +to the West Indies to teach the poor blacks to read the Bible. +And he actually set out with a Bible and 'Pilgrim's Progress' in +his bundle, and only a few shillings in his purse. He even +succeeded in reaching the West Indies, doubtless very much at a +loss how to set about his proposed work; but in the meantime his +distressed parents, having discovered whither he had gone, had him +speedily brought back, yet with his enthusiasm unabated; and from +that time forward he unceasingly devoted himself to the truly +philanthropic work of educating the destitute poor. (2) + +There needs all the force that enthusiasm can give to enable a man +to succeed in any great enterprise of life. Without it, the +obstruction and difficulty he has to encounter on every side might +compel him to succumb; but with courage and perseverance, inspired +by enthusiasm, a man feels strong enough to face any danger, to +grapple with any difficulty. What an enthusiasm was that of +Columbus, who, believing in the existence of a new world, braved +the dangers of unknown seas; and when those about him despaired +and rose up against him, threatening to cast him into the sea, +still stood firm upon his hope and courage until the great new +world at length rose upon the horizon! + +The brave man will not be baffled, but tries and tries again until +he succeeds. The tree does not fall at the first stroke, but only +by repeated strokes and after great labour. We may see the +visible success at which a man has arrived, but forget the toil +and suffering and peril through which it has been achieved. When +a friend of Marshal Lefevre was complimenting him on his +possessions and good fortune, the Marshal said: "You envy me, do +you? Well, you shall have these things at a better bargain than I +had. Come into the court: I'll fire at you with a gun twenty +times at thirty paces, and if I don't kill you, all shall be your +own. What! you won't! Very well; recollect, then, that I have +been shot at more than a thousand times, and much nearer, before I +arrived at the state in which you now find me!" + +The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men +have had to serve. It is usually the best stimulus and discipline +of character. It often evokes powers of action that, but for it, +would have remained dormant. As comets are sometimes revealed by +eclipses, so heroes are brought to light by sudden calamity. It +seems as if, in certain cases, genius, like iron struck by the +flint, needed the sharp and sudden blow of adversity to bring out +the divine spark. There are natures which blossom and ripen +amidst trials, which would only wither and decay in an atmosphere +of ease and comfort. + +Thus it is good for men to be roused into action and stiffened +into self-reliance by difficulty, rather than to slumber away +their lives in useless apathy and indolence. (3) It is the +struggle that is the condition of victory. If there were no +difficulties, there would be no need of efforts; if there were no +temptations, there would be no training in self-control, and but +little merit in virtue; if there were no trial and suffering, +there would be no education in patience and resignation. Thus +difficulty, adversity, and suffering are not all evil, but often +the best source of strength, discipline, and virtue. + +For the same reason, it is often of advantage for a man to be +under the necessity of having to struggle with poverty and conquer +it. "He who has battled," says Carlyle, "were it only with +poverty and hard toil, will be found stronger and more expert than +he who could stay at home from the battle, concealed among the +provision waggons, or even rest unwatchfully 'abiding by the +stuff.'" + +Scholars have found poverty tolerable compared with the privation +of intellectual food. Riches weigh much more heavily upon the +mind. "I cannot but choose say to Poverty," said Richter, "Be +welcome! so that thou come not too late in life." Poverty, Horace +tells us, drove him to poetry, and poetry introduced him to Varus +and Virgil and Maecenas. "Obstacles," says Michelet, "are great +incentives. I lived for whole years upon a Virgil, and found +myself well off. An odd volume of Racine, purchased by chance at +a stall on the quay, created the poet of Toulon." + +The Spaniards are even said to have meanly rejoiced the poverty of +Cervantes, but for which they supposed the production of his great +works might have been prevented. When the Archbishop of Toledo +visited the French ambassador at Madrid, the gentlemen in the +suite of the latter expressed their high admiration of the +writings of the author of 'Don Quixote,' and intimated their +desire of becoming acquainted with one who had given them so much +pleasure. The answer they received was, that Cervantes had borne +arms in the service of his country, and was now old and poor. +'What!" exclaimed one of the Frenchmen, "is not Senor Cervantes in +good circumstances? Why is he not maintained, then, out of the +public treasury?" "Heaven forbid!" was the reply, "that his +necessities should be ever relieved, if it is those which make him +write; since it is his poverty that makes the world rich!" (4) + +It is not prosperity so much as adversity, not wealth so much as +poverty, that stimulates the perseverance of strong and healthy +natures, rouses their energy and developes their character. Burke +said of himself: "I was not rocked, and swaddled, and dandled into +a legislator. 'NITOR IN ADVERSUM' is the motto for a man like +you." Some men only require a great difficulty set in their way +to exhibit the force of their character and genius; and that +difficulty once conquered becomes one of the greatest incentives +to their further progress. + +It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they +much oftener succeed through failure. By far the best experience +of men is made up of their remembered failures in dealing with +others in the affairs of life. Such failures, in sensible men, +incite to better self-management, and greater tact and self- +control, as a means of avoiding them in the future. Ask the +diplomatist, and he will tell you that he has learned his art +through being baffled, defeated, thwarted, and circumvented, +far more than from having succeeded. Precept, study, advice, +and example could never have taught them so well as failure +has done. It has disciplined them experimentally, and taught +them what to do as well as what NOT to do--which is often +still more important in diplomacy. + +Many have to make up their minds to encounter failure again and +again before they succeed; but if they have pluck, the failure +will only serve to rouse their courage, and stimulate them to +renewed efforts. Talma, the greatest of actors, was hissed off +the stage when he first appeared on it. Lacordaire, one of the +greatest preachers of modern times, only acquired celebrity after +repeated failures. Montalembert said of his first public +appearance in the Church of St. Roch: "He failed completely, and +on coming out every one said, 'Though he may be a man of talent, +he will never be a preacher.'" Again and again he tried until he +succeeded; and only two years after his DEBUT, Lacordaire was +preaching in Notre Dame to audiences such as few French orators +have addressed since the time of Bossuet and Massillon. + +When Mr. Cobden first appeared as a speaker, at a public meeting +in Manchester, he completely broke down, and the chairman +apologized for his failure. Sir James Graham and Mr. Disraeli +failed and were derided at first, and only succeeded by dint of +great labour and application. At one time Sir James Graham had +almost given up public speaking in despair. He said to his friend +Sir Francis Baring: "I have tried it every way--extempore, from +notes, and committing all to memory--and I can't do it. I don't +know why it is, but I am afraid I shall never succeed." Yet, by +dint of perseverance, Graham, like Disraeli, lived to become one +of the most effective and impressive of parliamentary speakers. + +Failures in one direction have sometimes had the effect of forcing +the farseeing student to apply himself in another. Thus +Prideaux's failure as a candidate for the post of parish-clerk of +Ugboro, in Devon, led to his applying himself to learning, and to +his eventual elevation to the bishopric of Worcester. When +Boileau, educated for the bar, pleaded his first cause, he broke +down amidst shouts of laughter. He next tried the pulpit, and +failed there too. And then he tried poetry, and succeeded. +Fontenelle and Voltaire both failed at the bar. So Cowper, +through his diffidence and shyness, broke down when pleading his +first cause, though he lived to revive the poetic art in England. +Montesquieu and Bentham both failed as lawyers, and forsook the +bar for more congenial pursuits--the latter leaving behind him a +treasury of legislative procedure for all time. Goldsmith failed +in passing as a surgeon; but he wrote the 'Deserted Village' and +the 'Vicar of Wakefield;' whilst Addison failed as a speaker, but +succeeded in writing 'Sir Roger de Coverley,' and his many famous +papers in the 'Spectator.' + +Even the privation of some important bodily sense, such as sight +or hearing, has not been sufficient to deter courageous men from +zealously pursuing the struggle of life. Milton, when struck by +blindness, "still bore up and steered right onward." His greatest +works were produced during that period of his life in which be +suffered most--when he was poor, sick, old, blind, slandered, +and persecuted. + +The lives of some of the greatest men have been a continuous +struggle with difficulty and apparent defeat. Dante produced his +greatest work in penury and exile. Banished from his native city +by the local faction to which he was opposed, his house was given +up to plunder, and he was sentenced in his absence to be burnt +alive. When informed by a friend that he might return to +Florence, if he would consent to ask for pardon and absolution, he +replied: "No! This is not the way that shall lead me back to my +country. I will return with hasty steps if you, or any other, +can open to me a way that shall not derogate from the fame or +the honour of Dante; but if by no such way Florence can be +entered, then to Florence I shall never return." His enemies +remaining implacable, Dante, after a banishment of twenty years, +died in exile. They even pursued him after death, when his +book, 'De Monarchia,' was publicly burnt at Bologna by order +of the Papal Legate. + +Camoens also wrote his great poems mostly in banishment. Tired of +solitude at Santarem, he joined an expedition against the Moors, +in which he distinguished himself by his bravery. He lost an eye +when boarding an enemy's ship in a sea-fight. At Goa, in the East +Indies, he witnessed with indignation the cruelty practised by the +Portuguese on the natives, and expostulated with the governor +against it. He was in consequence banished from the settlement, +and sent to China. In the course of his subsequent adventures and +misfortunes, Camoens suffered shipwreck, escaping only with his +life and the manuscript of his 'Lusiad.' Persecution and hardship +seemed everywhere to pursue him. At Macao he was thrown into +prison. Escaping from it, he set sail for Lisbon, where he +arrived, after sixteen years' absence, poor and friendless. His +'Lusiad,' which was shortly after published, brought him much +fame, but no money. But for his old Indian slave Antonio, who +begged for his master in the streets, Camoens must have perished. +(5) As it was, he died in a public almshouse, worn out by disease +and hardship. An inscription was placed over his grave:--"Here +lies Luis de Camoens: he excelled all the poets of his time: he +lived poor and miserable; and he died so, MDLXXIX." This record, +disgraceful but truthful, has since been removed; and a lying and +pompous epitaph, in honour of the great national poet of Portugal, +has been substituted in its stead. + +Even Michael Angelo was exposed, during the greater part of his +life, to the persecutions of the envious--vulgar nobles, vulgar +priests, and sordid men of every degree, who could neither +sympathise with him, nor comprehend his genius. When Paul IV. +condemned some of his work in 'The Last Judgment,' the artist +observed that "The Pope would do better to occupy himself with +correcting the disorders and indecencies which disgrace the world, +than with any such hypercriticisms upon his art." + +Tasso also was the victim of almost continual persecution and +calumny. After lying in a madhouse for seven years, he became a +wanderer over Italy; and when on his deathbed, he wrote: "I will +not complain of the malignity of fortune, because I do not choose +to speak of the ingratitude of men who have succeeded in dragging +me to the tomb of a mendicant" + +But Time brings about strange revenges. The persecutors and the +persecuted often change places; it is the latter who are great-- +the former who are infamous. Even the names of the persecutors +would probably long ago have been forgotten, but for their +connection with the history of the men whom they have persecuted. +Thus, who would now have known of Duke Alfonso of Ferrara, but for +his imprisonment of Tasso? Or, who would have heard of the +existence of the Grand Duke of Wurtemburg of some ninety years +back, but for his petty persecution of Schiller? + +Science also has had its martyrs, who have fought their way to +light through difficulty, persecution, and suffering. We need not +refer again to the cases of Bruno, Galileo, and others, (6) +persecuted because of the supposed heterodoxy of their views. But +there have been other unfortunates amongst men of science, whose +genius has been unable to save them from the fury of their +enemies. Thus Bailly, the celebrated French astronomer (who had +been mayor of Paris), and Lavoisier, the great chemist, were both +guillotined in the first French Revolution. When the latter, +after being sentenced to death by the Commune, asked for a few +days' respite, to enable him to ascertain the result of some +experiments he had made during his confinement, the tribunal +refused his appeal, and ordered him for immediate execution--one +of the judges saying, that "the Republic had no need of +philosophers." In England also, about the same time, Dr. +Priestley, the father of modern chemistry, had his house burnt +over his head, and his library destroyed, amidst shouts of "No +philosophers!" and he fled from his native country to lay his +bones in a foreign land. + +The work of some of the greatest discoverers has been done in the +midst of persecution, difficulty, and suffering. Columbus, who +discovered the New World and gave it as a heritage to the Old, was +in his lifetime persecuted, maligned, and plundered by those whom +he had enriched. Mungo Park's drowning agony in the African river +he had discovered, but which he was not to live to describe; +Clapperton's perishing of fever on the banks of the great lake, in +the heart of the same continent, which was afterwards to be +rediscovered and described by other explorers; Franklin's +perishing in the snow--it might be after he had solved the long- +sought problem of the North-west Passage--are among the most +melancholy events in the history of enterprise and genius. + +The case of Flinders the navigator, who suffered a six years' +imprisonment in the Isle of France, was one of peculiar hardship. +In 1801, he set sail from England in the INVESTIGATOR, on a voyage +of discovery and survey, provided with a French pass, requiring +all French governors (notwithstanding that England and France were +at war) to give him protection and succour in the sacred name of +science. In the course of his voyage he surveyed great part of +Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and the neighbouring islands. The +INVESTIGATOR, being found leaky and rotten, was condemned, and the +navigator embarked as passenger in the PORPOISE for England, to +lay the results of his three years' labours before the Admiralty. +On the voyage home the PORPOISE was wrecked on a reef in the South +Seas, and Flinders, with part of the crew, in an open boat, made +for Port Jackson, which they safely reached, though distant from +the scene of the wreck not less than 750 miles. There he procured +a small schooner, the CUMBERLAND, no larger than a Gravesend +sailing-boat, and returned for the remainder of the crew, who had +been left on the reef. Having rescued them, he set sail for +England, making for the Isle of France, which the CUMBERLAND +reached in a sinking condition, being a wretched little craft +badly found. To his surprise, he was made a prisoner with all his +crew, and thrown into prison, where he was treated with brutal +harshness, his French pass proving no protection to him. What +aggravated the horrors of Flinders' confinement was, that he knew +that Baudin, the French navigator, whom he had encountered while +making his survey of the Australian coasts, would reach Europe +first, and claim the merit of all the discoveries he had made. It +turned out as he had expected; and while Flinders was still +imprisoned in the Isle of France, the French Atlas of the new +discoveries was published, all the points named by Flinders and +his precursors being named afresh. Flinders was at length +liberated, after six years' imprisonment, his health completely +broken; but he continued correcting his maps, and writing out +his descriptions to the last. He only lived long enough to +correct his final sheet for the press, and died on the very +day that his work was published! + +Courageous men have often turned enforced solitude to account in +executing works of great pith and moment. It is in solitude that +the passion for spiritual perfection best nurses itself. The soul +communes with itself in loneliness until its energy often becomes +intense. But whether a man profits by solitude or not will mainly +depend upon his own temperament, training, and character. While, +in a large-natured man, solitude will make the pure heart purer, +in the small-natured man it will only serve to make the hard heart +still harder: for though solitude may be the nurse of great +spirits, it is the torment of small ones. + +It was in prison that Boetius wrote his 'Consolations of +Philosophy,' and Grotius his 'Commentary on St. Matthew,' regarded +as his masterwork in Biblical Criticism. Buchanan composed his +beautiful 'Paraphrases on the Psalms' while imprisoned in the cell +of a Portuguese monastery. Campanella, the Italian patriot monk, +suspected of treason, was immured for twenty-seven years in a +Neapolitan dungeon, during which, deprived of the sun's light, he +sought higher light, and there created his 'Civitas Solis,' which +has been so often reprinted and reproduced in translations in most +European languages. During his thirteen years' imprisonment in +the Tower, Raleigh wrote his 'History of the World,' a project of +vast extent, of which he was only able to finish the first five +books. Luther occupied his prison hours in the Castle of Wartburg +in translating the Bible, and in writing the famous tracts and +treatises with which he inundated all Germany. + +It was to the circumstance of John Bunyan having been cast into +gaol that we probably owe the 'Pilgrim's Progress.' He was thus +driven in upon himself; having no opportunity for action, his +active mind found vent in earnest thinking and meditation; and +indeed, after his enlargement, his life as an author virtually +ceased. His 'Grace Abounding' and the 'Holy War' were also +written in prison. Bunyan lay in Bedford Gaol, with a few +intervals of precarious liberty, during not less than twelve +years; (7) and it was most probably to his prolonged imprisonment +that we owe what Macaulay has characterised as the finest +allegory in the world. + +All the political parties of the times in which Bunyan lived, +imprisoned their opponents when they had the opportunity and the +power. Bunyan's prison experiences were principally in the time +of Charles II. But in the preceding reign of Charles I., as well +as during the Commonwealth, illustrious prisoners were very +numerous. The prisoners of the former included Sir John Eliot, +Hampden, Selden, Prynne (8) (a most voluminous prison-writer), and +many more. It was while under strict confinement in the Tower, +that Eliot composed his noble treatise, 'The Monarchy of Man.' +George Wither, the poet, was another prisoner of Charles the +First, and it was while confined in the Marshalsea that he wrote +his famous 'Satire to the King.' At the Restoration he was again +imprisoned in Newgate, from which he was transferred to the Tower, +and he is supposed by some to have died there. + +The Commonwealth also had its prisoners. Sir William Davenant, +because of his loyalty, was for some time confined a prisoner in +Cowes Castle, where he wrote the greater part of his poem of +'Gondibert': and it is said that his life was saved principally +through the generous intercession of Milton. He lived to repay +the debt, and to save Milton's life when "Charles enjoyed his own +again." Lovelace, the poet and cavalier, was also imprisoned by +the Roundheads, and was only liberated from the Gatehouse on +giving an enormous bail. Though he suffered and lost all for the +Stuarts, he was forgotten by them at the Restoration, and died +in extreme poverty. + +Besides Wither and Bunyan, Charles II. imprisoned Baxter, +Harrington (the author of 'Oceana'), Penn, and many more. All +these men solaced their prison hours with writing. Baxter wrote +some of the most remarkable passages of his 'Life and Times' while +lying in the King's Bench Prison; and Penn wrote his 'No Cross no +Crown' while imprisoned in the Tower. In the reign of Queen Anne, +Matthew Prior was in confinement on a vamped-up charge of treason +for two years, during which he wrote his 'Alma, or Progress +of the Soul.' + +Since then, political prisoners of eminence in England have been +comparatively few in number. Among the most illustrious were De +Foe, who, besides standing three times in the pillory, spent much +of his time in prison, writing 'Robinson Crusoe' there, and many +of his best political pamphlets. There also he wrote his 'Hymn to +the Pillory,' and corrected for the press a collection of his +voluminous writings. (9) Smollett wrote his 'Sir Lancelot +Greaves' in prison, while undergoing confinement for libel. +Of recent prison-writers in England, the best known are James +Montgomery, who wrote his first volume of poems while a prisoner +in York Castle; and Thomas Cooper, the Chartist, who wrote his +'Purgatory of Suicide' in Stafford Gaol. + +Silvio Pellico was one of the latest and most illustrious of the +prison writers of Italy. He lay confined in Austrian gaols for +ten years, eight of which he passed in the Castle of Spielberg in +Moravia. It was there that he composed his charming 'Memoirs,' +the only materials for which were furnished by his fresh living +habit of observation; and out of even the transient visits of his +gaoler's daughter, and the colourless events of his monotonous +daily life, he contrived to make for himself a little world of +thought and healthy human interest. + +Kazinsky, the great reviver of Hungarian literature, spent +seven years of his life in the dungeons of Buda, Brunne, +Kufstein, and Munkacs, during which he wrote a 'Diary of his +Imprisonment,' and amongst other things translated Sterno's +'Sentimental Journey;' whilst Kossuth beguiled his two years' +imprisonment at Buda in studying English, so as to be able to +read Shakspeare in the original. + +Men who, like these, suffer the penalty of law, and seem to fail, +at least for a time, do not really fail. Many, who have seemed to +fail utterly, have often exercised a more potent and enduring +influence upon their race, than those whose career has been a +course of uninterupted success. The character of a man does not +depend on whether his efforts are immediately followed by failure +or by success. The martyr is not a failure if the truth for which +he suffered acquires a fresh lustre through his sacrifice. (10) +The patriot who lays down his life for his cause, may thereby +hasten its triumph; and those who seem to throw their lives away +in the van of a great movement, often open a way for those who +follow them, and pass over their dead bodies to victory. The +triumph of a just cause may come late; but when it does come, it +is due as much to those who failed in their first efforts, as to +those who succeeded in their last. + +The example of a great death may be an inspiration to others, as +well as the example of a good life. A great act does not perish +with the life of him who performs it, but lives and grows up into +like acts in those who survive the doer thereof and cherish his +memory. Of some great men, it might almost be said that they have +not begun to live until they have died. + +The names of the men who have suffered in the cause of religion, +of science, and of truth, are the men of all others whose memories +are held in the greatest esteem and reverence by mankind. They +perished, but their truth survived. They seemed to fail, and yet +they eventually succeeded. (11) Prisons may have held them, but +their thoughts were not to be confined by prison-walls. They have +burst through, and defied the power of their persecutors. It was +Lovelace, a prisoner, who wrote: + + "Stone walls do not a prison make, + Nor iron bars a cage; + Minds innocent and quiet take + That for a hermitage." + +It was a saying of Milton that, "who best can suffer best can do." +The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been +done amidst suffering and trial and difficulty. They have +struggled against the tide, and reached the shore exhausted, only +to grasp the sand and expire. They have done their duty, and been +content to die. But death hath no power over such men; their +hallowed memories still survive, to soothe and purify and bless +us. "Life," said Goethe, "to us all is suffering. Who save God +alone shall call us to our reckoning? Let not reproaches fall on +the departed. Not what they have failed in, nor what they have +suffered, but what they have done, ought to occupy the survivors." + +Thus, it is not ease and facility that tries men, and brings out +the good that is in them, so much as trial and difficulty. +Adversity is the touchstone of character. As some herbs need to +be crushed to give forth their sweetest odour, so some natures +need to be tried by suffering to evoke the excellence that is in +them. Hence trials often unmask virtues, and bring to light +hidden graces. Men apparently useless and purposeless, when +placed in positions of difficulty and responsibility, have +exhibited powers of character before unsuspected; and where we +before saw only pliancy and self-indulgence, we now see strength, +valour, and self-denial. + +As there are no blessings which may not he perverted into evils, +so there are no trials which may not be converted into blessings. +All depends on the manner in which we profit by them or otherwise. +Perfect happiness is not to be looked for in this world. If it +could be secured, it would be found profitless. The hollowest of +all gospels is the gospel of ease and comfort. Difficulty, and +even failure, are far better teachers. Sir Humphry Davy said: +"Even in private life, too much prosperity either injures +the moral man, and occasions conduct which ends in suffering; +or it is accompanied by the workings of envy, calumny, and +malevolence of others." + +Failure improves tempers and strengthens the nature. Even sorrow +is in some mysterious way linked with joy and associated with +tenderness. John Bunyan once said how, "if it were lawful, he +could even pray for greater trouble, for the greater comfort's +sake." When surprise was expressed at the patience of a poor +Arabian woman under heavy affliction, she said, "When we look on +God's face we do not feel His hand." + +Suffering is doubtless as divinely appointed as joy, while it is +much more influential as a discipline of character. It chastens +and sweetens the nature, teaches patience and resignation, and +promotes the deepest as well as the most exalted thought. (12) + + "The best of men + That e'er wore earth about Him was a sufferer; + A soft, meek, patient, humble, tranquil spirit + The first true gentleman that ever breathed." (13) + +Suffering may be the appointed means by which the highest nature +of man is to be disciplined and developed. Assuming happiness to +be the end of being, sorrow may be the indispensable condition +through which it is to be reached. Hence St. Paul's noble paradox +descriptive of the Christian life,--"as chastened, and not +killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making +many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." + +Even pain is not all painful. On one side it is related to +suffering, and on the other to happiness. For pain is remedial as +well as sorrowful. Suffering is a misfortune as viewed from the +one side, and a discipline as viewed from the other. But for +suffering, the best part of many men's nature would sleep a deep +sleep. Indeed, it might almost be said that pain and sorrow were +the indispensable conditions of some men's success, and the +necessary means to evoke the highest development of their genius. +Shelley has said of poets: + + "Most wretched men are cradled into poetry by wrong, + They learn in suffering what they teach in song." + +Does any one suppose that Burns would have sung as he did, +had he been rich, respectable, and "kept a gig;" or Byron, +if he had been a prosperous, happily-married Lord Privy Seal +or Postmaster-General? + +Sometimes a heartbreak rouses an impassive nature to life. +"What does he know," said a sage, "who has not suffered?" +When Dumas asked Reboul, "What made you a poet?" his answer was, +"Suffering!" It was the death, first of his wife, and then of +his child, that drove him into solitude for the indulgence of +his grief, and eventually led him to seek and find relief in +verse. (14) It was also to a domestic affliction that we owe +the beautiful writings of Mrs. Gaskell. "It was as a recreation, +in the highest sense of the word," says a recent writer, speaking +from personal knowledge, "as an escape from the great void of a +life from which a cherished presence had been taken, that she +began that series of exquisite creations which has served to +multiply the number of our acquaintances, and to enlarge even +the circle of our friendships." (15) + +Much of the best and most useful work done by men and women has +been done amidst affliction--sometimes as a relief from it, +sometimes from a sense of duty overpowering personal sorrow. "If +I had not been so great an invalid," said Dr. Darwin to a friend, +"I should not have done nearly so much work as I have been able to +accomplish." So Dr. Donne, speaking of his illnesses, once said: +"This advantage you and my other friends have by my frequent +fevers is, that I am so much the oftener at the gates of Heaven; +and by the solitude and close imprisonment they reduce me to, I am +so much the oftener at my prayers, in which you and my other dear +friends are not forgotten." + +Schiller produced his greatest tragedies in the midst of physical +suffering almost amounting to torture. Handel was never greater +than when, warned by palsy of the approach of death, and +struggling with distress and suffering, he sat down to compose the +great works which have made his name immortal in music. Mozart +composed his great operas, and last of all his 'Requiem,' when +oppressed by debt, and struggling with a fatal disease. Beethoven +produced his greatest works amidst gloomy sorrow, when oppressed +by almost total deafness. And poor Schubert, after his short but +brilliant life, laid it down at the early age of thirty-two; +his sole property at his death consisting of his manuscripts, +the clothes he wore, and sixty-three florins in money. Some of +Lamb's finest writings were produced amidst deep sorrow, and +Hood's apparent gaiety often sprang from a suffering heart. +As he himself wrote, + + "There's not a string attuned to mirth, + But has its chord in melancholy." + +Again, in science, we have the noble instance of the suffering +Wollaston, even in the last stages of the mortal disease which +afflicted him, devoting his numbered hours to putting on record, +by dictation, the various discoveries and improvements he had +made, so that any knowledge he had acquired, calculated to benefit +his fellow-creatures, might not be lost. + +Afflictions often prove but blessings in disguise. "Fear not the +darkness," said the Persian sage; it "conceals perhaps the springs +of the waters of life." Experience is often bitter, but +wholesome; only by its teaching can we learn to suffer and be +strong. Character, in its highest forms, is disciplined by trial, +and "made perfect through suffering." Even from the deepest +sorrow, the patient and thoughtful mind will gather richer wisdom +than pleasure ever yielded. + +"The soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decayed, +Lets in new light through chinks that Time has made." + +"Consider," said Jeremy Taylor, "that sad accidents, and a state +of afflictions, is a school of virtue. It reduces our spirits to +soberness, and our counsels to moderation; it corrects levity, and +interrupts the confidence of sinning.... God, who in mercy and +wisdom governs the world, would never have suffered so many +sadnesses, and have sent them, especially, to the most virtuous +and the wisest men, but that He intends they should be the +seminary of comfort, the nursery of virtue, the exercise of +wisdom, the trial of patience, the venturing for a crown, +and the gate of glory." (16) + +And again:--"No man is more miserable than he that hath no +adversity. That man is not tried, whether he be good or bad; +and God never crowns those virtues which are only FACULTIES +and DISPOSITIONS; but every act of virtue is an ingredient +unto reward." (17) + +Prosperity and success of themselves do not confer happiness; +indeed, it not unfrequently happens that the least successful in +life have the greatest share of true joy in it. No man could have +been more successful than Goethe--possessed of splendid health, +honour, power, and sufficiency of this world's goods--and yet he +confessed that he had not, in the course of his life, enjoyed five +weeks of genuine pleasure. So the Caliph Abdalrahman, in +surveying his successful reign of fifty years, found that he had +enjoyed only fourteen days of pure and genuine happiness. (18) +After this, might it not be said that the pursuit of mere +happiness is an illusion? + +Life, all sunshine without shade, all happiness without sorrow, +all pleasure without pain, were not life at all--at least not +human life. Take the lot of the happiest--it is a tangled yarn. +It is made up of sorrows and joys; and the joys are all the +sweeter because of the sorrows; bereavements and blessings, one +following another, making us sad and blessed by turns. Even death +itself makes life more loving; it binds us more closely together +while here. Dr. Thomas Browne has argued that death is one of the +necessary conditions of human happiness; and he supports his +argument with great force and eloquence. But when death comes +into a household, we do not philosophise--we only feel. The +eyes that are full of tears do not see; though in course of +time they come to see more clearly and brightly than those +that have never known sorrow. + +The wise person gradually learns not to expect too much from life. +While he strives for success by worthy methods, he will be +prepared for failures, he will keep his mind open to enjoyment, +but submit patiently to suffering. Wailings and complainings of +life are never of any use; only cheerful and continuous working +in right paths are of real avail. + +Nor will the wise man expect too much from those about him. If he +would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear. And +even the best have often foibles of character which have to be +endured, sympathised with, and perhaps pitied. Who is perfect? +Who does not suffer from some thorn in the flesh? Who does not +stand in need of toleration, of forbearance, of forgiveness? What +the poor imprisoned Queen Caroline Matilda of Denmark wrote on her +chapel-window ought to be the prayer of all,--"Oh! keep me +innocent! make others great." + +Then, how much does the disposition of every human being depend +upon their innate constitution and their early surroundings; +the comfort or discomfort of the homes in which they have been +brought up; their inherited characteristics; and the examples, +good or bad, to which they have been exposed through life! +Regard for such considerations should teach charity and +forbearance to all men. + +At the same time, life will always be to a large extent what we +ourselves make it. Each mind makes its own little world. The +cheerful mind makes it pleasant, and the discontented mind makes +it miserable. "My mind to me a kingdom is," applies alike to the +peasant as to the monarch. The one may be in his heart a king, as +the other may be a slave. Life is for the most part but the +mirror of our own individual selves. Our mind gives to all +situations, to all fortunes, high or low, their real characters. +To the good, the world is good; to the bad, it is bad. If our +views of life be elevated--if we regard it as a sphere of useful +effort, of high living and high thinking, of working for others' +good as well as our own--it will be joyful, hopeful, and blessed. +If, on the contrary, we regard it merely as affording +opportunities for self-seeking, pleasure, and aggrandisement, it +will be full of toil, anxiety, and disappointment. + +There is much in life that, while in this state, we can never +comprehend. There is, indeed, a great deal of mystery in life-- +much that we see "as in a glass darkly." But though we may not +apprehend the full meaning of the discipline of trial through +which the best have to pass, we must have faith in the +completeness of the design of which our little individual +lives form a part. + +We have each to do our duty in that sphere of life in which we +have been placed. Duty alone is true; there is no true action but +in its accomplishment. Duty is the end and aim of the highest +life; the truest pleasure of all is that derived from the +consciousness of its fulfilment. Of all others, it is the one +that is most thoroughly satisfying, and the least accompanied by +regret and disappointment. In the words of George Herbert, the +consciousness of duty performed "gives us music at midnight." + +And when we have done our work on earth--of necessity, of labour, +of love, or of duty,--like the silkworm that spins its little +cocoon and dies, we too depart. But, short though our stay in +life may be, it is the appointed sphere in which each has to work +out the great aim and end of his being to the best of his power; +and when that is done, the accidents of the flesh will affect but +little the immortality we shall at last put on: + + "Therefore we can go die as sleep, and trust + Half that we have + Unto an honest faithful grave; + Making our pillows either down or dust!" + + + +NOTES + +(1) 'Calcutta Review,' article on 'Romance and Reality of Indian Life.' + +(2) Joseph Lancaster was only twenty years of age when (in 1798) +he opened his first school in a spare room in his father's house, +which was soon filled with the destitute children of the +neighbourhood. The room was shortly found too small for the +numbers seeking admission, and one place after another was hired, +until at length Lancaster had a special building erected, capable +of accommodating a thousand pupils; outside of which was placed +the following notice:--"All that will, may send their children +here, and have them educated freely; and those that do not wish to +have education for nothing, may pay for it if they please." Thus +Joseph Lancaster was the precursor of our present system of +National Education. + +(3) A great musician once said of a promising but passionless +cantatrice--"She sings well, but she wants something, and in that +something everything. If I were single, I would court her; I +would marry her; I would maltreat her; I would break her heart; +and in six months she would be the greatest singer in Europe!"-- +BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, + +(4) Prescot's 'Essays,' art. Cervantes. + +(5) A cavalier, named Ruy de Camera, having called upon Camoens to +furnish a poetical version of the seven penitential psalms, the +poet, raising his head from his miserable pallet, and pointing to +his faithful slave, exclaimed: "Alas! when I was a poet, I was +young, and happy, and blest with the love of ladies; but now, I am +a forlorn deserted wretch! See--there stands my poor Antonio, +vainly supplicating FOURPENCE to purchase a little coals. I have +not them to give him!" The cavalier, Sousa quaintly relates, in +his 'Life of Camoens,' closed his heart and his purse, and quitted +the room. Such were the grandees of Portugal!--Lord Strangford's +REMARKS ON THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF CAMOENS, 1824. + +(6) See chapter v. p. 125. + +(7) A Quaker called on Bunyan one day with "a message from the Lord," +saying he had been to half the gaols of England, and was glad at +last to have found him. To which Bunyan replied: "If the Lord +sent thee, you would not have needed to take so much trouble to +find me out, for He knew that I have been in Bedford Gaol these +seven years past." + +(8) Prynne, besides standing in the pillory and having his ears cut +off, was imprisoned by turns in the Tower, Mont Orgueil (Jersey), +Dunster Castle, Taunton Castle, and Pendennis Castle. He after- +wards pleaded zealously for the Restoration, and was made Keeper +of the Records by Charles II. It has been computed that Prynne +wrote, compiled, and printed about eight quarto pages for every +working-day of his life, from his reaching man's estate to the day +of his death. Though his books were for the most part +appropriated by the trunkmakers, they now command almost fabulous +prices, chiefly because of their rarity. + +(9) He also projected his 'Review' in prison--the first periodical of +the kind, which pointed the way to the host of 'Tatlers,' +'Guardians,' and 'Spectators,' which followed it. The 'Review' +consisted of 102 numbers, forming nine quarto volumes, all of +which were written by De Foe himself, while engaged in other and +various labours. + +(10) A passage in the Earl of Carlisles Lecture on Pope--'Heaven was +made for those who have failed in this world'--struck me very +forcibly several years ago when I read it in a newspaper, and +became a rich vein of thought, in which I often quarried, +especially when the sentence was interpreted by the Cross, which +was failure apparently."--LIFE AND LETTERS OF ROBERTSON (of +Brighton), ii. 94. + +(11) "Not all who seem to fail, have failed indeed; + Not all who fail have therefore worked in vain: + For all our acts to many issues lead; + And out of earnest purpose, pure and plain, + Enforced by honest toil of hand or brain, + The Lord will fashion, in His own good time, + (Be this the labourer's proudly-humble creed,) + Such ends as, to His wisdom, fitliest chime + With His vast love's eternal harmonies. + There is no failure for the good and wise: + What though thy seed should fall by the wayside + And the birds snatch it;--yet the birds are fed; + Or they may bear it far across the tide, + To give rich harvests after thou art dead." + POLITICS FOR THE PEOPLE, 1848. + +(12) "What is it," says Mr. Helps, "that promotes the most and the +deepest thought in the human race? It is not learning; it is not +the conduct of business; it is not even the impulse of the +affections. It is suffering; and that, perhaps, is the reason why +there is so much suffering in the world. The angel who went down +to trouble the waters and to make them healing, was not, perhaps, +entrusted with so great a boon as the angel who benevolently +inflicted upon the sufferers the disease from which they +suffered."--BREVIA. + +(13) These lines were written by Deckar, in a spirit of boldness +equal to its piety. Hazlitt has or said of them, that they +"ought to embalm his memory to every one who has a sense either +of religion, or philosophy, or humanity, or true genius." + +(14) Reboul, originally a baker of Nismes, was the author of many +beautiful poems--amongst others, of the exquisite piece known in +this country by its English translation, entitled 'The Angel and +the Child.' + +(15) 'Cornhill Magazine,' vol. xvi. p. 322. + +(16) 'Holy Living and Dying,' ch. ii. sect. 6. + +(17) Ibid., ch. iii. sect. 6. + +(18) Gibbon's 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,' vol. x. p. 40. + + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of CHARACTER, by Samuel Smiles + diff --git a/old/crctr10.zip b/old/crctr10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a7ee17e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/crctr10.zip |