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diff --git a/43439-0.txt b/43439-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c31dd8d --- /dev/null +++ b/43439-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2676 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43439 *** + +SHORT STUDIES IN ETHICS + +_AN ELEMENTARY TEXT-BOOK FOR SCHOOLS_ + +BY + +REV. J. O. MILLER, M.A., + +_Principal of Bishop Ridley College_ + +TORONTO: +THE BRYANT PRESS +1895 + + +Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the office of +the Minister of Agriculture, by REV. J. O. MILLER, M.A., St. Catharines, +Canada. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + I. DUTY 7 + + II. OBEDIENCE 15 + + III. TRUTHFULNESS 19 + + IV. COURAGE 24 + + V. PURITY 30 + + VI. UNSELFISHNESS 35 + + VII. HONESTY 40 + + VIII. FAITHFULNESS 45 + + IX. PROFANITY 50 + + X. JUSTICE 54 + + XI. BENEVOLENCE 59 + + XII. AMBITION 63 + + XIII. PATRIOTISM 68 + + XIV. BODILY EXERCISE 72 + + XV. HABIT 77 + + XVI. INDUSTRY 82 + + XVII. SELF-CONTROL 88 + +XVIII. SELF-RELIANCE 91 + + XIX. FRIENDSHIP 95 + + XX. GENTLEMANLINESS 100 + + XXI. COURTESY 105 + + XXII. REPENTANCE 110 + +XXIII. CHARACTER 115 + + XXIV. CONSCIENCE 120 + + + + +PREFACE + + +This little book has grown out of periodical addresses to my own pupils. +An experience of over ten years has convinced me of the necessity of +teaching systematically the fundamental principles of Morality. The +scarcity of books suitable as elementary texts is a sufficient proof +that the subject is neglected in our schools. It cannot be right that +children should be left to master so wide a subject from incidental +instruction and from example. + +I should be sorry if any one thought, from glancing at the topics I have +treated, that I seemed content to put lessons in practical Morality in +place of instruction in the Scriptures and definite religious teaching. +Nothing can take the place of the Scriptures. But I feel convinced that +these two aspects of Truth must go hand in hand. The young mind requires +the truth to be presented to it from all sides, and nothing appeals to +it so strongly as a modern example. + +My own idea as to the use of such a book as this is that it should +supplement Bible instruction. The lessons are short enough to be taught +in half an hour. If one topic is taken up each week, and thoroughly +explained, and enlarged on by fresh examples from current life and +history, the whole book can be easily mastered in the school year, and +leave ample time for review and examination. If it should prove helpful +to other teachers, my labour will be amply rewarded. + +_Bishop Ridley College, St. Catharines, +Feb. 28th, 1895._ + + + [Greek: Megas gar ho agôn, megas, ouch hosos dokei, to chrêston ê + kakon genesthai.] + --_Plato._ + + + + +No. I. + +DUTY + ++Duty is something which is due, and which, therefore, ought to be paid +or performed. It is something owed by everybody, to God, to self, or to +others.+ + + +No other word is more disliked by the slothful than the word Duty. The +mention of the word itself causes weariness to a boy or man of that +kind. We can only get to like the word and the thing itself by +accustoming ourselves to perform it regularly, a little at a time. A boy +or girl with a fine ear and a natural talent for music hates, at first, +the daily practising and the uninteresting lessons; but, as soon as the +difficulties are mastered, playing an instrument becomes a delight. +Duty, in itself, is not a distasteful thing; it is because we hate +anything which gives us trouble that it seems unbearable. We can teach +ourselves to like taking pains. + +Duty is, in one sense, the great law which governs the universe. The +planets revolving about the sun, the moon encircling the earth, even the +erratic comets, in fulfilling the laws of their being, perform the +duties which they are set. So, too, the plants and animals of the lower +creation obey the laws under which they live. Even of inanimate things, +pieces of human mechanism, may this be said. The pendulum of the clock +will tick until it is worn out, if it receive the care necessary for its +work. We see what wonderful things a machine can be made to do for man +in Edison's marvellous inventions of the kinetoscope and the +kinetograph. + +Human duties differ from those of the lower creation and of the +inanimate world in this, that in the latter the duties are performed by +virtue of the great law of necessity, whereas man is free. That is what +makes human duties moral--that is where the _ought_ comes in. If we love +idleness, and most of us do at first, we naturally hate the idea of +Duty. If we give way to our feelings and desires, we shall only hate +Duty more intensely, and we are in danger of becoming not much better +than the brutes around us; in fact, we are giving way to the brute part +of our nature. Human nature differs from brute nature in having a +Conscience, which continually whispers in our hearts, "I must not," and +"I ought." It is our first duty to listen to Conscience. + +The longer we practise doing duties the easier they become. A great man +once said: "A man shall carry a bucket of water on his head and be very +tired with the burden; but that same man, when he dives into the sea, +shall have the weight of a thousand buckets on his head without +perceiving their weight, because he is in the element, and it entirely +surrounds him." After running two miles for the first time, a boy feels +great stiffness, but after he has done it twenty times he feels nothing +but the pleasure of good health arising from pleasant exercise. In the +same way, he translates a single sentence in his Latin grammar with +great difficulty at first, but when he can translate Cæsar's campaigns +without trouble the task becomes a delight. + +Most people think they are entitled to great credit for doing their +Duty, and even to reward. If some one owes you a dollar, is he entitled +to a reward for repaying you? Is he entitled to any special credit? If a +father sees his son drowning and jumps into the water to rescue him, is +he entitled to any special credit, as a matter of right? Duty is +something _due_; therefore, it is a debt. "When ye have done all the +things that are commanded you, say, We are all bondservants; we have +done that which it was our duty to do." + +(1) Duty is something owing to ourselves. Character is made up of +duties, and by our character we must stand or fall. We owe it to +ourselves to take the greatest care of our bodies. They should be +cleansed and exercised every day of our lives. Many a man, who would +feel outraged if his favourite horse were not thoroughly groomed and +otherwise cared for daily, neglects his own body, which needs "grooming" +quite as much as that of the horse. We owe it to ourselves to be careful +as to what we eat, and as to the right quantity. If we give a dog too +much meat or a horse too much grain, we know the result. We are not so +careful about ourselves as about our animals. + +We owe it to ourselves to be true in all things. "First to thine own +self be true," says the great poet. We owe it to ourselves to be honest +in the very smallest things as well as in the great; to be afraid of +nothing except evil; to be clean in our thoughts and words; to be +modest; to be kind; to be gentle to the weak; to be generous; to be +charitable; to be modest about ourselves; to be temperate. + +(2) Duty is something owing to others. We owe our parents a return for +their love and care for us at a time when we should have perished +without it. The return that is due them is that we should be a credit to +them instead of a disgrace, so that the world may say, "Those parents +have reason to be proud of their children." God has said: "Honour thy +father and thy mother." We owe it to them to be diligent in our +lessons, so that we may prepare to earn our own living, and not to be +dependent upon them all our days. A boy may say: "I am not going to +bother my head about this work. My father is rich, and I shall never +have to work unless I like." A few years hence, men will say: "Look at +that idle fellow! He is a disgrace to his parents. He is fit for +nothing; he is going to the bad already." + +We owe it to others to owe them nothing. "Owe no man anything." It is +our duty to pay every debt in full, at the earliest moment possible. We +owe it to others to keep as sacred every confidence reposed in us. We +owe it to others to say no evil of them. _De mortuis nil nisi bonum_ was +a proverb of the Romans. It is wiser to speak evil of no one at all. + + + "He slandereth not with his tongue, + Nor doeth evil to his friend, + Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour." + + +(3) Duty is something owing to one's country. The names of the patriots +will be the last to die from men's memories. Every man owes to his +country his name, his influence, his strenuous labour, his liberty, his +life itself, should that be needed. When Nelson, on the day of +Trafalgar, gave to his ships the signal, "England expects every man to +do his duty," he spoke for all nations, in all ages, under all +circumstances. When Pompey's friends tried to dissuade him from setting +sail for Rome in a storm, telling him that he did so at the peril of his +life, he said, "It is necessary for me to go, it is not necessary for me +to live." Perhaps the greatest example of patriotism shown in a love of +Duty of modern times is that of Wellington. His greatness lay in doing +thoroughly every duty that came in his way. For that he would sacrifice +everything else. Late in his life he was content to suffer a temporary +loss of popularity through devotion to what he believed to be a duty. He +was even mobbed in the streets of London, and had his windows smashed +while his wife lay dead in the house. The great motive power that +underlay his whole career was whole-hearted devotion to Duty. He himself +said that Duty was his watchword. "There is little or nothing in this +life worth living for," said he; "but we can all of us go straight +forward and do our duty." Nelson's last words were: "I have done my +duty; I praise God for it." + +Some years ago a troop-ship called the _Birkenhead_ was wrecked off the +coast of Africa. The officers and men saw the women and children safely +into the boats, which sufficed for them alone. Those brave soldiers and +sailors fired a salute as the ship went down, and thus cheerfully gave +up their lives to the watery grave. Upon which a great writer said: +"Goodness, Duty, Sacrifice--these are the qualities that England +honours. She knows how to teach her sons to sink like men amidst sharks +and billows, as if Duty were the most natural thing in the world." + +(4) Duty is something owing to God. The highest act of duty is to +acknowledge that we owe everything to God, except evil. We owe our lives +to God, for from Him they came. We owe it to God that man is a human +being, and not merely a higher sort of lower animal. God "breathed into +his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living _soul_." We owe +to God all that we have, and especially all happiness that we enjoy. It +is from Him that comes all the love that enters into our lives. He is +the great source of love to the human race. That is why we call Him our +Father; He is the personification of the love of which our earthly +parents' love is an example. We owe to God gratitude for His love to us, +manifested at every step of our lives, and we ought not merely to feel +that gratitude, but also to express it to Him daily. It is our duty, +therefore, to pray. + +The highest form of prayer is that God's will may be done in our lives. +If we are sincere in that, and pray it with our hearts, and not merely +with our lips, it will be found sufficient to cover every request that +we can make, because our supreme duty is to do God's will in every act +and desire of life. Arising out of that prayer come the principal duties +of life, viz., thankfulness for God's goodness to us, the fight against +evil in every form, the showing to others by example how God's will may +be done, and, lastly, perfect trust in God in every circumstance of +life. + + + + +No. II. + +OBEDIENCE + ++Obedience is doing promptly and cheerfully what is commanded by those in +authority over us.+ + + +Obedience is the first great law of life. No nation could continue to +exist if its citizens were not law-abiding. The most highly civilized +nations are those whose citizens yield loyal Obedience to the laws, and +strive to make all men obey them. Every society has its rules which the +members agree to obey, and it can only exist so long as that obedience +is observed voluntarily and faithfully. No army could be successful +against the enemy if the soldiers did not obey their officers. +Unquestioning obedience to the commands of the captain is necessary for +the safety of the ship and of the lives of the passengers. Those who are +employed in business must obey the instructions of their employers if +the business is to succeed. The first lesson that a schoolboy is set to +learn is the lesson of Obedience. What happiness could there be in our +homes if the children did not obey their parents? + +The greatest part of life is Conduct, and Conduct can only be attained +by practising Obedience. The little child learns it from its mother, the +boy from his father, and from his master at school. The young man must +practise it at college, or at business. The older man continues to obey +some one all through his life. If he wish to govern others, he must +first obey himself. If he will not obey himself, he cannot rule others. +There is only One who is above Obedience--that is God. + +At the battle of Balaklava, a small brigade of cavalry was ordered to +attack an immensely strong battery. The order was a mistake, as every +one knew that such an attempt would mean certain death. Yet the officer +commanding the cavalry did not hesitate for a moment to carry out the +orders, though he well knew what the result would be. Not a single +soldier among those six hundred refused to obey. + + + "Theirs not to reason why; + Theirs but to do and die." + + +And so the charge was made, and out of the six hundred only one-quarter +returned. + +Boys sometimes think it a manly thing to question the orders given them, +and even to assert their independence by refusing to obey. Brave men +think it childish to stop to reason about the commands of those in +authority. The wisest men believe that disobedience is one of the +strongest signs of radically bad character. Experience teaches us that +disobedience will, in time, destroy the character altogether. He that +will not submit to authority must become, in time, not merely a useless, +but a dangerous, member of society. + +Obedience, to be worth anything in building up conduct, must be given +_promptly and cheerfully_. Obedience which is tardy, or yielded through +fear, is not right Obedience at all. If a boy's father desires him to do +a piece of work which is not agreeable, or not very easy, there is often +a great temptation to put it off, and do other things first. A boy is +told to cut the grass when he comes home from school. He returns home, +and finds the afternoon warm, and the prospect of grass-cutting +uninviting, and so he first feeds his pigeons; and that reminds him that +he is very anxious to make them some new nest-boxes. The afternoon has +nearly gone when he, at length, drags himself unwillingly to the +lawn-mower; and he has barely finished the work, when he sees his father +coming in at the gate. Perhaps the edges of the grass plot have not been +clipped, as a finish to the work, because he did not begin soon enough. +That is a case of tardy Obedience--not real Obedience. The work was done +because the boy knew he must do it, and not because he loved to obey +his father. Real Obedience is _prompt_ Obedience. + +Real Obedience is always cheerfully given. He who grumbles at an order, +and only does it through fear, is not obedient. A boy who will not +cheerfully give up a game, in order to carry out a command from one in +authority, must always be looked upon as one who is at heart +disobedient. If the officers of the cavalry, mentioned above, had chafed +under the order to put their lives in peril, and had sent the messenger +back to find out if they were really to make the attack, they would have +lost their claim to our admiration as truly brave men. If the troopers +had grumbled when the order was given to advance into the valley of +death, and had made the attack in a half-hearted way, they would never +have gained the undying glory that is theirs, and they would probably +have sacrificed the lives of the few who did at last return in safety. +Their Obedience gained them immortal fame because it was prompt and +cheerful. + +He who would become a good citizen, and a really useful member of +society, can only do so by practising Obedience, with great patience, +and with all his heart, throughout the whole of his life. To attain +excellence in it, as in many other things, it must be begun very early +in life. Above all, it must be willingly given. Real Obedience is +prompt, cheerful, and from the heart. + + + + +No. III. + +TRUTHFULNESS + ++Truthfulness is speaking and acting in a perfectly straightforward way, +without any attempt to add to, or take from, the facts. Its opposite is +Lying or Deception.+ + + +If Lying were the rule and Truthfulness the exception, society would +soon be destroyed. Men could not do business with each other if they +could not be trusted to speak the truth, and to keep faithfully a +promise once made. Instead of trusting, they would fear one another; +every time they were assured of anything they would doubt, and perhaps +suspect a trap. If all men resorted to lying, they would soon begin to +destroy each other, because it is an instinct of human nature to +preserve one's self from the attack of enemies. The liar is the enemy of +mankind. A great man was once asked: "Do the devils lie?" "No," was his +answer; "for then even hell could no longer exist." + +(1) Regard for Truthfulness forbids us to tell, as truth, what we know +to be false. This is the worst form of lying. Only the most hardened +will lie deliberately; no one who has not had long practice in this vice +can tell a deliberate falsehood without despising himself. That can only +be done when the Conscience is at last asleep, and when the character +has become vicious. + +(2) Another form of lying is telling, as truth, what we do not know to +be true. People often assert things which they cannot possibly know to +be true; for instance, the motives of other persons. There are also +things which are only probable, and of which we cannot be certain. To +state as absolutely true what we cannot know to be true is falsehood. +Again, there are things which are merely matters of opinion, and upon +which vastly different opinions may be held. If we would be strictly +truthful, we must be careful to state as true only what can be proved to +be facts. + +(3) Another form of deceit is telling what may be true in fact, but +telling it in such a way as to convey a false impression. This may be +done by (_a_) exaggerating, or adding to, the facts; or (_b_) by +withholding some important part of the facts. Many a character has been +ruined by some enemy who wilfully overstated, or understated, facts of +the highest importance to the person's reputation. Many a man has ruined +his own character by allowing himself to acquire the habit of +exaggeration. + +(4) Untruthfulness shows itself in other ways. A lie may be acted as +well as spoken. For example, when a boy allows himself to be praised for +some action he never performed and does not give the praise to the right +person, or at least disown it for himself, he acts a lie. The boy who +tries to make his master believe him to be obedient and studious when he +is not acts a lie. The boy who brings up as his own work an exercise +which he has cribbed, or in which he has been assisted, acts a lie. + +(5) Concealment of the truth may be an unspoken lie. There is an old +Latin motto which says: "The suppression of the truth is the suggestion +of an untruth." By keeping back a necessary part of the truth one may +give a totally wrong impression of the facts, and this is just as much a +lie as absolute misstatement. + +(6) Trickery, or underhand dealing of any kind, is a kind of lying. A +London merchant had business with another in a foreign country. The +latter asked the former to send out certain packages of goods marked +less than the real weight, so as to escape the customs duty. "I can't do +it," said the English merchant. "Very well," said the foreigner, "if +you won't, there are plenty of others who will, and I shall take my +business away from you"--which he did, causing the other firm a heavy +loss. A few years afterwards the foreigner wrote to the English +merchant: "Enclosed is a draft for so much, which please put to my +credit. I am sending my son to England to learn your way of business. +There is nobody in whom I have such confidence as I have in you. Will +you take him into your office and make him the same sort of man that you +are yourself?" + +(7) Truthfulness lays upon us the most solemn obligation to keep our +promises, no matter how small may be the matter concerned. He who makes +a promise, not intending to keep it, is guilty of gross deception. In +making a promise it is our duty to express our _intention_ in the +plainest terms, and we must then consider ourselves under obligation to +carry out that intention faithfully and fully. When Blücher was +hastening with his army over bad roads to the help of Wellington at the +battle of Waterloo, he encouraged his troops by calling out frequently, +"Forward, children, forward." "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_!" + +Lord Chesterfield once said: "It is truth that makes the success of the +gentleman." Those words should be taken to heart by every boy who wishes +to honour truth. Clarendon said of Falkland, one of the noblest and +purest of men, that he "was so severe an adorer of truth that he could +as easily have given himself leave to steal as to dissemble." +Shakespeare said: + + + "This above all: to thine own self be true, + And it must follow as the night the day + Thou canst not then be false to any man." + + + + +No. IV. + +COURAGE + ++Courage is that disposition which enables us to meet danger or +difficulties firmly and without fear. There are two kinds of Courage: +Physical and Moral; and it has two aspects: Fearlessness and Boldness.+ + + +The opposite of Courage is Cowardice, and no greater insult can be +offered a man than to call him a coward. Courage has always been looked +upon as one of the greatest virtues. Men may be willing to forfeit +purity, truth, and honour, but they cling to Courage to the very end. +Courage is a quality that boys love and respect, because it is a manly +virtue. + +Physical Courage appeals most to the young. Nothing so excites their +admiration as a feat of daring. Physical Courage is a splendid thing, a +thing to be prized by every one. As a rule, it is something that every +one may possess a good share of. Physical Courage depends very largely +upon bodily vigour and strength of muscle. It is when we are nervous and +feel our limbs to be weak that our Courage is small. The boy or man who +exercises his muscles regularly is sure to store up a large amount of +physical Courage--enough, at least, to develop its first +stage--Fearlessness. + +He who possesses a good constitution and a body whose strength he has +tested by repeated trials is not apt to turn tail at small fears, as are +the weak and delicate. He is able to present to difficulties, or, it may +be, to danger, a steadfast mind and a calm exterior. It is this sort of +Courage which makes the English soldier renowned in war. Had it not been +for the dogged persistence of his soldiers in holding their ground, in +spite of a hurricane of shot and shell, Wellington could never have held +Napoleon at bay at Waterloo. But, while this Fearlessness is much to be +admired, it is, after all, the least heroic form of Courage, because so +much of it is purely physical. + +Fighting, as a test of Courage, is greatly overestimated. Experienced +soldiers tell us that it requires a good deal of Courage to go into +battle for the first time. "You look pale," said one officer to another, +as he came within range of the enemy's guns for the first time; "are you +afraid?" "Yes," answered the other; "if you were half as much afraid, +you would turn tail." But, with most soldiers, the feeling of fear soon +wears off, and where there is no fear there is not much trial of +Courage. The physical Courage that we all covet is that which leads a +man to do what others dare not. In 1892, a young clergyman, on a visit +to this country, was crossing the foot-bridge at Niagara Falls. When +about one-third of the way across, he saw a lady stepping up from the +carriage path to the sidewalk. She caught her toe against the edge, +stumbled forward, and fell through the open iron work at the side of the +bridge. She happened to be over the place where the broken rocks line +the edge of the water. In her swift descent, she struck her head against +one of the girders and was stunned; her body then turned over and fell +across another girder. At this moment the clergyman came up. Looking +over, he saw her body swaying gently, and evidently about to drop very +soon to the awful rocks, over two hundred feet below. Without a moment's +hesitation, he sprang out over the edge of the bridge, and, seizing one +of the iron rods that supported the girder, he slid down, and then crept +along the narrow girder till he reached the lady. Bracing himself with +immense difficulty, he kept her from plunging into the abyss until help +arrived, death beckoning to him from below, if he should lose his head +for a single moment. At length a rope was lowered to him, and they were +soon drawn up. That is a splendid example of physical Courage. + +A higher type of Courage is that which enables us to endure pain. +Endurance is a rarer quality than dashing Fearlessness. It was said that +in the Franco-Prussian war, in 1870, the French soldiers were more +brilliant in the on-rush than the Prussians, but they lacked endurance, +and could not stand for long before artillery fire. This type of Courage +is best seen in bearing pain. When Epictetus was a slave, his master was +one day beating him. The poor slave said: "If you do not look out, you +will break my leg." Presently the bone snapped. "There," said Epictetus, +as _calmly_ as before, "I told you you would break it." One of the most +remarkable instances of the Courage of endurance is that of the defence +of Cawnpore, in the days of the Indian Mutiny, by a handful of English +troops, with their wives and children. For twenty-one days they endured +untold agonies of exposure by a never-ceasing fire, of hunger, of thirst +(sharp-shooters picking off any one who dared approach the single well +in the camp), of the midsummer sun, of sickness, and of the unutterable +foulness of their surroundings. The soldiers' wives showed even greater +endurance than the men. Women generally have greater courage than men in +the matter of bearing pain. + +The highest type of Courage is that which is called Moral Courage, and +is exercised about matters of right and wrong as they affect us +individually. "It is shown by the man who pays his debts, who does +without when he cannot afford, who speaks his mind when necessary, but +who can be silent when it is better not to speak. It requires Moral +Courage to admit that we have been wrong." It requires Moral Courage to +stand being laughed at, although it is the sign of a wise man to be able +to enjoy a laugh at his own expense. It requires Moral Courage to run +the risk of losing one's popularity. Socrates was the greatest teacher +of ancient times, and he was beloved by many of his pupils; but because +his lofty teaching ran beyond the attainments and spirit of his age, he +was condemned to drink the deadly hemlock. He died calmly, even +joyfully, discoursing to his judges of the immortality of the soul. +Galileo was imprisoned when seventy years of age, and, probably, +tortured. He was content to suffer it, and refused to retract what he +had proved to be scientific truth. + +When we are laughed at or threatened with persecution of any kind, +Courage bids us stand by our principles. + + + "As the crackling of thorns under a pot, + So is the laughter of a fool," + + +said Solomon. It is the part of wisdom to disregard being laughed at. +When a boy lacks backbone, we say he is easily led, which means, easily +led wrong. How we pity such a boy! + +The highest Courage is that which leads men to sacrifice their lives of +their own free will. Such was the courage of the soldiers and sailors of +the _Birkenhead_. In one of the battles of the Peninsular War, a +sergeant named Robert M'Quaide saw two French soldiers aim their muskets +against a very young officer, sixteen years old. M'Quaide pulled him +back behind him, saying: "You are too young, sir, to be killed," and +then fell dead, pierced by both balls. + +Courage is a very different thing from Recklessness, or Foolhardiness. +An old proverb says: "Courage is the wisdom of manhood; foolhardiness +the folly of youth." And Carlyle said: "The courage that dares only die +is, on the whole, no sublime affair.... The Courage we desire and prize +is not the courage to die decently, but to live manfully." + + + + +No. V. + +PURITY + ++By Purity we mean that state of mind which is possessed by him who +fights against foul thoughts, drives them away, and who never allows +himself to perform an unclean action, or to use filthy, or obscene, +language.+ + + +Purity involves three things: (1) Clean language, (2) clean thoughts, +(3) clean actions. They are put in this order because it generally +happens among the young that impurity begins with hearing unclean +language, and by imitating it. A little boy hearing others use foul +language soon begins to use it himself, though he may not know its real +meaning. Alas! it does not take long for him to learn the meaning of it +also; and it is but a short step from foul language to impure thoughts +and filthy actions. + +Purity is one of the three heroic virtues; the others are Truth and +Courage. In the age of chivalry men valued Purity above all things +except Truth and Courage. Tennyson makes his hero say: + + + "My good blade carves the casques of men, + My tough lance thrusteth sure; + My strength is as the strength of ten, + Because my heart is pure." + + +Purity is one of the most manly virtues. Impurity marks the coward and +the sneak, because it is nearly always directed in thought or action +secretly against those weaker than ourselves. In "Tom Brown at Oxford," +one of Tom Brown's friends says: "I have been taught ever since I could +speak that the crown of all real manliness is Purity." You may ask: "Why +is it manly?" It is manly because it cannot be got without a hard +struggle; the temptation to be impure in thought, if not in language, is +one of the hardest temptations to overcome. A little boy may not feel +it, but the older he grows the harder he has to fight against impurity +in his heart, and in his life. + +We must, first of all, guard against unclean language. There are some +words which are merely filthy, without being immoral; both are bad, and +the one leads to the other. Little boys often long to have other words +to put into their language than they have learned at home, because they +think the home language not strong enough or manly enough. In order to +satisfy themselves that they are no longer children, they begin at +school to copy the strong words of the boldest and most reckless of the +boys they meet, and they quickly add to their vocabulary unclean and +even immoral words, because such words seem to be the mark of manliness, +and of personal independence of character. By the time that a boy begins +to realize what such words really mean, he has already formed the habit +of using unclean language, and a bad _habit_ is the hardest thing in the +world to get rid of. + +Any one who thinks about the matter for a moment will admit that filthy +language is not only not manly, but that it is degrading to the mind and +character. One of the most manly characters of modern times was +Coleridge Patteson, Bishop of Melanesia, who died in 1874, by the clubs +of savage islanders, who, when he was dead, placed him in a boat with +his hands crossed, and set him adrift upon the Pacific. We are told by +an old schoolmate of his that once, when he was captain of the cricket +eleven at Eton, some boys at the cricket dinner began to sing a coarse +song. "Coley" Patteson had said that he would leave the room if such a +song were sung, and as soon as they began it he quietly got up and went +out. The result of his action was that the bad custom was stopped +entirely. The old poet of Israel sang: "O Lord, keep the door of my +lips." We all need to make that request. Another of the most manly men +of modern times was General Grant, President of the United States. We +are told of him that on one occasion, when a number of gentlemen were +dining together, some one began to tell an indecent story. He commenced +by saying: "I have a first-class story which I may tell, seeing that +there are no ladies present." "No! but there are _gentlemen_ present," +said General Grant, and the story was not told. + +The use of unclean words leads to impure thoughts and to filthy actions. +It is difficult to speak plainly about this matter of personal Purity. +Every boy when he reaches a certain age is tempted by the Devil in the +way of impure thoughts. These are first presented by unclean things +which come into the imagination. If they are not fought against, and +driven out by force of strong will, in a short time the imagination, +naturally one of the purest and most beautiful faculties of the human +mind, will become tainted, and at last foul and degraded. Unclean words +do harm, first, to the individual character, by destroying its early +purity and delicacy, just as we spoil the beauty of a grape by rubbing +off its bloom; and, secondly, to those who hear and may learn to use +them. But unclean thoughts, the evil imaginations, injure the _soul_, +and the _mind_, and the _body_. They injure the soul by making it take +delight in that which is foul and base, and which belongs to the brutes. +They hurt the mind by destroying its power to concentrate itself on +work, or on anything that lies outside of self. They injure the body, +because he who is given up to foul thoughts soon becomes capable of +nothing else. He avoids companions, he desires to be _alone_, that he +may take delight in foul images of the mind, and so the body is +neglected and loses its strength. + +There is even a worse stage, when the foul imagination results in +_secret_ acts of filthiness, which eventually will destroy body, mind, +and soul. The poor wretch who has learned such horrible habits may live +on, but not many years can pass until he shall become an idiot, and must +be confined in an asylum, away from his fellow-men. Terrible, indeed, is +the fate of such a person. How significant are the words of the great +Teacher, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!" +Another great teacher once said that pure religion was: "To visit the +fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself +_unspotted_ from the world." + + + + +No. VI. + +UNSELFISHNESS + ++Unselfishness is the giving up personal gain or advantage. It is the +desire to do the will of another rather than our own. It is making a +sacrifice to please some one else.+ + + +Truth, Purity, and Courage are called the heroic virtues; Unselfishness +is greater than any of them. It is like the Christian virtue of Charity +or Love; it makes people forget their own interests for the sake of +others. Unselfishness is the great lesson we learn from studying the +life of Jesus; He is the great example to the world of absolute +self-forgetfulness. We admire notable examples of this virtue. One of +the members of the Light Brigade tells us that in that terrible charge +he was wounded in the knee, and also in the shin. He could not possibly +get back from the scene of the fight. Another soldier passing by said: +"Get on my back, chum." He did so, and then discovered from the flowing +blood that his rescuer had been shot through the back of the head. When +told of it, he said: "Oh, never mind that; it's not much, I don't +think." But he died of that wound a few days later. The brave fellow +thought not of his own wound, but only how he might help another, though +he belonged to a different squadron and was unknown to him. + +Unselfishness is one of the hardest things to learn. A boy may be +naturally brave and even generous, but no one is naturally unselfish. We +are apt to confuse generosity with unselfishness; really they are quite +different. A generous person gives out of his abundance, liberally; an +unselfish person of what seems necessary to his happiness. A generous +boy shares his weekly purchases with his friends; an unselfish boy, out +of pity at some distressful case, gives away all his allowance for that +week, and cheerfully goes without. The selfish boy spends his money upon +himself alone. It is hard to neglect Self. + +Even the selfish make sacrifices occasionally. But there is not much +virtue in being unselfish now and then, if, in the meantime, we think of +nothing but gratifying our own desires. Real Unselfishness is a habit, +and needs to be acquired as does any other habit. We have to begin +practising it, and to go on practising it, in the little things of life +as well as the great, for a long time before we are finally able to +forget self and think of others first. It is perhaps impossible to +forget self altogether; but Unselfishness aims to that. + +A boy is going down town for some amusement. His sister asks him to take +a parcel for her to the house of a friend, who lives considerably out of +the way. He says he can't be bothered, or that he will miss some of his +fun; he is selfish. Another boy is next at bat, and the "Pro." is going +to bowl. A friend asks him to exchange places on the list, as he has to +meet his father at the train later on, and he is near the foot of the +list. The first boy consents, though he knows he will not get nearly so +good a practice; he is unselfish. The unselfish person is constantly +trying to lighten the burdens of others. + +If you wish to tell a thoroughly selfish person, watch his conversation. +He talks constantly of himself, of what he has done, or will do, or can +do. His belongings are better than those of another, merely because they +are his. He loves himself more than any one else; and it is natural to +talk of what we love best. Lord Bacon said: "It is a poor centre of a +man's actions, _himself_. It is right earth." He also said: "The +referring of all to a man's self is a desperate evil in a citizen of a +republic." "Wisdom for a man's self is, in many branches thereof, a +depraved thing. It is the wisdom of rats, that will be sure to leave a +house before it fall. It is the wisdom of the fox, that thrusts out the +badger who digged and made room him. It is the wisdom of crocodiles, +that shed tears when they would devour." + +An old proverb says: "Love thyself, and many will hate thee." + +Unselfishness is hard to practise, because it brings no reward in this +life. The unselfish man, indeed, is often imposed on by the +self-seeking, and more often still simply because he is unselfish, and +never ceases to think of others. A Christian man in the city of Toronto, +widely known for his charities, subscribed $500 to a deserving object. +The committee in charge of the matter appointed collectors to go about +and ask help from the public. A lady called upon this gentleman, not +knowing that he had already given largely. He was about to tell her of +his first subscription, when he noticed her face fall at the expected +refusal. He immediately took her little book and put down his name for a +second amount. He could not bear to send her empty away. His first +subscription was generosity; his second, Unselfishness. There _is_ a +reward here for Unselfishness--the approval of one's own Conscience, +and, after all, that is of greater permanent value than the praise of +men. + +In an age when there is so much grasping after personal gain, it is +refreshing to read of great instances of forgetfulness of self. When the +_Victoria_, after her collision with the _Camperdown_, was found to be +sinking, Admiral Sir George Tryon ordered the sick and the prisoners to +be brought up from below, and then gave the usual order, always the last +to be given on a ship: "All hands for themselves." Not a man broke ranks +until that order was given. Even then the chaplain stayed to help the +sick, and so lost his life. The Admiral himself went down, standing on +the bridge; and, most notable of all, young Lanyon, a junior midshipman, +refused to leave the Admiral's side, though told to jump, and they went +down together. + + + "He that loseth his life shall find it." + + + + +No. VII. + +HONESTY + ++Honesty is Truth practically applied to questions about the property of +others. It is the principle of dealing with others as we would desire +others to deal with us. The sole guide in fulfilling this obligation is +not what the Law may be, but what our Conscience tells us.+ + + +(1) Honesty is a form of Truthfulness. It is that form of it which is +concerned with our dealings with others, especially as to their +possessions. The opposite of it is called Dishonesty, and the worst form +of Dishonesty is Stealing. The thief is hated, and feared, and despised +more than any other sort of criminal. Men fear him as they do poisonous +snakes; because the thief is a creeping creature, hiding himself and his +actions from the light of day. He watches you until you feel secure, and +are less careful than usual of your possessions; then he sneaks about, +waiting for a favourable moment when no one is near to observe or +suspect him before snatching your property. A man may commit a very +grievous offence against another in a moment of passion; and, though we +acknowledge the justice of his punishment, we do not hate him. But men +hate a thief because he is a sneak, and because his offence is done in +cold blood, not in the heat of anger; in an underhand way, not openly +and above board. + +The confirmed thief is one who has yielded his soul to the Devil. He +deliberately sacrifices his character; he surrenders himself of his own +free will to a life of evil. Stealing inevitably leads to lying, and +these two things degrade the character more quickly than any other evils +that touch it. Not only does he destroy the purity of his soul; before +long he must yield up his body for punishment. Not one thief in a +hundred goes long unpunished. + +(2) There are other forms of dishonesty not so open as stealing, and, in +some cases, not so harmful, but generally degrading and destructive of +high character. One of these is Cheating. If a coal dealer is paid for a +ton of coal and delivers only nineteen hundred pounds, he is guilty of +stealing. If, however, he gives full weight, but sells the coal as +first-class, when it contains shale or other impurities, and is really +of a cheap grade, then he is cheating. The schoolboy who copies his +night-work from another, or gets help, and then presents the exercise as +his own, is guilty of cheating. This form of cheating is made worse +when it is done in examinations, because the result affects not only +the standing of the person who cheats, but deprives others of fairly won +advantage. + +(3) Another form of dishonesty is that by which one person takes +advantage of another in a bargain, through his ignorance or +helplessness, even though nothing is actually misrepresented. For +example, A. asks B. to lend him ten cents for a month. B. knows that A. +is in a tight place, and must have the money; and so he offers it on +condition that A. will pay him twenty cents at the end of the month. B. +is dishonest, because he takes unlawful advantage of A.'s necessity. + +(4) There is a kind of cheating not referred to above--that is cheating +in games. Apart from the effect of this kind of cheating upon the +character, the game itself is spoiled. There is a tendency, nowadays, to +play games for the sake of the victory alone, and to take no interest in +games that one cannot win. We should play the game for its own sake, and +frown down all attempts to win it by going just a little outside of what +we know to be the rules. He who allows himself to cheat at games is +forming a habit which will lead him to cheat later on in serious +business. + +(5) Another form of dishonesty is that relating to property lost and +found. A boy finds a sum of money in a room, or hall, or playground, or +even on the street. Money is a thing not easily identified, and there +is, therefore, a temptation to pocket it and say nothing about it. This +is dishonest. The duty in such a case is plain, to try to find the +owner, and, if that cannot be done, then to put the money to some useful +or charitable purpose, and not into one's own pocket. + +(6) Still another form of dishonesty is that in which one person takes +to himself the praise belonging to another; or allows another to bear +blame belonging to himself. We often see boys letting others suffer, in +one way or another, for what they have done. Nothing can be meaner or +more contemptible. It is not uncommon to see people eager to take the +credit, or praise, or even rewards, which properly belong to others, who +have been thrust aside, or forgotten, for the moment. It is a form of +dishonesty. + +Honesty has another side also. When practised according to the voice of +Conscience, without regard to what the law may be, it is the sign of a +noble character. A young man's father fails in business, and dies +suddenly, leaving many debts behind him unpaid. The young man makes a +solemn resolution that he will save and save, and work his hardest, to +pay off those debts, though he did not make them; that is the Honesty of +the truly noble character. A very striking example of this sort of +Honesty is that of Sir Walter Scott, who applied himself, though nearly +sixty years of age, to the enormous task of paying off, by the sale of +his stories, a debt of $600,000, which he did not actually incur, and +from which he could have got free, according to the letter of the law. +But his inflexible Honesty forced him into making an effort which +doubtless shortened his life. + + + + +No. VIII. + +FAITHFULNESS + ++Faithfulness is being true to our word, and to our friends, fulfilling +our obligations, and doing what we see is our duty, at all costs.+ + + +Of the honest man we say: "His word is as good as his bond." Of the +faithful man we say: "He was never known to desert a friend or neglect +an important duty." Faithfulness is one of the strongest evidences of +fine character. The boy who is sent on an errand by his mother, and +resists the temptations of some playmates he meets on the way, to stop +and have a game, is Faithful. Two boys going for a walk in the country +decide to cross a field of ripe grain, and run the risk of being seen by +the farmer in the next field. They are seen and chased. One can run much +faster than the other; in fact, he can escape if he likes to leave the +other. But he doesn't; and both are caught, and have their ears cuffed. +That is an example of the Faithfulness of a friend. As the gentleman's +psalm puts it, + + + "He sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not"; + + +or, as it is otherwise translated, + + + "He sweareth to his friend, and changeth not." + + +In the history of Napoleon we are told that, after his burial at St. +Helena, his household sadly embarked for Europe. One of their number, +however, Sergeant Hubert, refused to abandon even the grave of the +Emperor. For nineteen years he continued at St. Helena, daily guarding +the solitary tomb, and when the remains were at length removed to France +the faithful old servant followed them home. How often we see people +professing the utmost friendship and loyalty to one who has wealth and +influence; but as soon as his money is gone, his faithless friends +depart also. Is not that the case sometimes, even with schoolboys? + +We should be faithful in performing obligations. It is said of Thomas +Brassey, who has been called a great captain of industry, and who was +one of the first to undertake great railway contracts, that the reason +of his success lay in the fact that he was faithful in all obligations, +and trusted his men as they trusted him. On one occasion, when he was +building a railway in Spain, a man who had agreed to make a cutting +through a hill found that it turned out to be a rock cutting, though the +price was to be for a sand cutting. If there had not been perfect trust +between the two men, the work would have stopped, and Mr. Brassey would +have lost a large sum through delay. The sub-contractor went steadily on +with the work, and had it almost finished, when Mr. Brassey arrived from +England to inspect the works. When he came to the hill, the +sub-contractor told him what he had done. Some men would have taken +advantage of the sub-contractor; but Mr. Brassey allowed him double the +price agreed upon, and kept a faithful servant by practising +Faithfulness himself. + +A merchant fails in business. He agrees with his creditors to pay them +fifty cents in the dollar, and they then discharge him from his +liabilities, and he begins business again. In a few years he makes a +good deal of money. He determines to pay back to his old creditors the +other fifty cents in the dollar, from payment of which they had +released. That is a case of Faithfulness to one's obligations. The moral +obligations to pay back everything remained, though his creditors had +let him off. There are such men in the business world, and all honour to +them! Horace says: "Fidelity is the sister of Justice." + +We should be especially careful to be faithful in the performance of our +promises. A promise is a sacred thing. It is an obligation undertaken of +our own free will, and for which we have pledged our honour. That is +what the sacred poet means in saying: "He sweareth to his own hurt, and +changeth not." Nothing can turn him from his promise, even though he is +sure to suffer by it. There is a proverb which says: "Promises may get +friends, but it is performance that must keep them." + +Faithfulness is most difficult in the daily round and common task of +life. Yet it is precisely there that Character is formed and built up. A +reputation for Faithfulness cannot be made by being strictly faithful a +few times, or in a few important things. We have to practise at it, and +grow into the character of a faithful man after years of effort. A boy +is given ten words to parse for next day. He does five carefully; and +then, longing to get out to play, he does the others anyhow, just to be +able to show the exercise, and escape detention; he is unfaithful. Or, +he is given four stanzas of poetry to learn. He learns three, and takes +his chance of being asked one of the three, and not the fourth; he is +unfaithful. He is expected by his parents to watch over his younger +brother who goes with him to school, but he lets the little fellow fight +his own way; he is unfaithful. He listens without protest, or without +moving away, to bad, or, perhaps, obscene, language. He is unfaithful to +God, and to his father and mother. + +The late Czar of Russia, Alexander III., was many times in danger of +his life, and his father had been assassinated by Nihilists. Yet he +refused to flinch from the path of duty. He was faithful to his great +position and responsibilities, and was called the Peace-keeper of +Europe. When he was fresh from a hair-breadth escape from the hand of an +assassin, he said: "I am ready; I will do my duty at any cost." + +The highest examples of faithfulness are to be found in the history of +the Christian martyrs, who gave up their lives joyfully, rather than be +found unfaithful. In the terrible persecution of the early Christians in +A.D. 303, a young Roman noble, named Andronicus, was brought before the +governor of the province. He was very bold in professing his faith in +God. The judge said: "Youth makes you insolent; I have my torments +ready." Andronicus replied: "I am prepared for whatever may happen." He +was tortured upon the rack, scraped with broken tiles, and salt rubbed +into his wounds, but remained immovable. Three times the torture was +repeated. But with seared and scarred flesh, members cut off, teeth +smashed in, and tongue cut out, he maintained his fidelity to the end. +At last he was thrown to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre of +Anazarbus. + + + "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of + life." + + + + +No. IX. + +PROFANITY + ++Profanity is using the name of God, or of anything sacred, in a +disrespectful or light and careless way.+ + + +There is no vice which has so little excuse for existence as the vice of +Profanity, commonly called swearing or cursing. Every other vice we can +think of has some appearance of reason in it. Thieving is done because +of the temptation to gratify some desire. In the case of the young +thief, who is just learning the evil practice, this desire completely +overcomes him. The enjoyment which he thinks he will get from the +coveted thing forms an overwhelming temptation. Lying is generally +resorted to by the young in order to get them out of scrapes, or to +avoid immediate punishment; and we might thus enumerate other vices, and +the reasons for their existence. But Profanity can plead no excuse +whatever. It is merely a vicious habit acquired without sense or reason. +Boys learn it from each other, and in many cases from men, who are +doubly guilty in allowing the young to overhear evil words. Boys think +it manly to swear because they hear their elders doing it. But there is +nothing manly about swearing. The things that are truly manly are such +things as Fearlessness, Moral Courage, Endurance, Steadfastness, +Loyalty, Honour, Faithfulness. Profanity cannot rank with any of these. +Placed beside them, it is at once seen to be low and vicious. + +(1) The worst form of Profanity is that which is made use of when any +one uses God's name in a disrespectful way. We see this when one person +curses another in the name of God. This worst form of Profanity +generally arises from giving way to ungovernable passion. + +(2) A less evil form of it arises from allowing one's self to form the +habit of swearing; not from a bad motive, but because of the tendency in +most of us to imitate others, or from carelessness in watching the words +we use. Boys should be as careful of their words as young ladies are of +their steps. It is easy to acquire a habit; it is exceedingly difficult +to get rid of it. + +(3) A little boy asks: Is it Profanity to say _damn_, or to use lightly +the name of the _Devil_? It is just as profane to use either of these +words as it is to use the name of God carelessly. The power of _damn_, +as we now understand that word, belongs to God alone; it is a sacred +thing; therefore, it is profane to speak of it lightly. The devil is the +ruling spirit of evil, and of the souls of those who are entirely given +up to evil. The destiny of the human soul in such a state is one of the +most solemn thoughts that can come to men; to speak lightly of the +matter is to profane it. + +(4) To scoff at religious things is Profanity. If a boy so behaves in +church as to show that he has no respect for the reading of the Bible, +or for the singing of sacred songs, or for the act of prayer, he is +guilty of Profanity. If one person wilfully interferes with another when +engaged in any sacred exercise, meaning to bring the person or the act +into disrepute, he is guilty of Profanity. We see, then, that Profanity +covers a much wider field than the mere disrespectful use of God's name, +with an evil purpose in the mind. + +The use of profane words is the mark of a coarse and vulgar mind. Many a +man has been weaned of the habit which he learnt as a boy solely on +account of its coarseness and vulgarity. That is not a very high ground +on which to give up a vice; yet it is sufficient to show us that +Profanity tends to degrade him who practises it. The man who prides +himself on being a gentleman, and yet uses bad language, is by no means +altogether a gentleman. The use of coarse language destroys the fine +and delicate texture of the mind, and blunts the finer perceptions. He +who would keep his very highest faculties uninjured cannot afford to +indulge in any habit which tends to coarseness. + +Washington once asked a number of his officers to dine with him. In one +of the pauses of conversation, he heard one of them at the far end of +the table utter an oath in a voice loud enough to be heard by everyone. +The General looked quietly at his guests, and then said: "I really +thought I had invited none but gentlemen to dine with me." + +Plutarch said: "If any man think it a small matter to bridle his tongue, +he is much mistaken." + +St. James said: "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect +man, and able also to bridle the whole body." + + + + +No. X. + +JUSTICE + ++Justice is the principle of awarding to all men, including ourselves, +what we believe to be their just rights. We are morally bound to be just +even to our enemies, not only in our actions, but also in our words and +thoughts.+ + + +Justice is said to be truth in action, that is, truth carried into +practical operation. Two brothers at school have a hamper sent them from +home. It is directed to the elder, but the letter says it is for both. +The elder takes charge of it, and, while enjoying its contents freely +with his friends, has the power to allow his brother to partake of the +good things very sparingly, and only occasionally. But he allows his +brother free access to the basket, that both may share alike. That is a +simple case of Justice. + +A boy going out to steal apples from an orchard forced a younger and +smaller boy to accompany him for the purpose of keeping a lookout. While +the bigger boy was in the middle of the orchard the younger lad was +caught, and taken back to school to be punished. The real thief, having +escaped, returned in time to see the little boy punished for the +offence. Instead of bravely coming forward to take the place of his +companion, who was really his victim, he laughed it off, and promised +him some candy at the end of the week. That is a case of gross +injustice. The converse of this form of injustice is also common; when +one person takes the praise, or reward, that is really due to another. +We see injustice of that kind in business, and, indeed, in every walk of +life. It has happened over and over again that the maker of some great +invention has been obliged to sell it for bread, while the man who +bought it has taken advantage of his fellow-man's distress and made a +fortune, and the other was left in poverty. "Render, therefore, to all +their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear +to whom fear; honour to whom honour." + +The Thebans represented Justice as having neither hands nor eyes; their +idea being to picture the just judge, who would neither receive a bribe, +nor respect persons from their appearance. For a similar reason the +English people picture her with eyes bandaged, and having a sword in one +hand and a pair of scales in the other. The Emperor Maximilian's motto +was _Fiat justitia, ruat coelum_; "Let justice be done, though the +heavens fall." Mahomet said: "One hour in the execution of justice is +worth seventy years of prayer." + + + "Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding + small; + Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He + all." + + +Though man's justice fail, God's justice can never fail in the end. + +Grievous injustice is often done by the exaggerations of enemies, or +careless busybodies. Two friends fall out, and one, feeling bitter +against the other, repeats something which the other has confessed in +confidence, taking care to add a little--just enough to save the story +from absolute misrepresentation, but enough to do his former friend an +injury which, perhaps, can never be undone. Gossip about the failings of +others almost always ends in injustice. + +"Let every man be swift to hear; slow to speak; slow to wrath," if he +wish to become a just man. One of the most harmful of the smaller sins, +and most difficult to get rid of, is the sin of exaggeration. It is +fatal to the growth of Justice in the character. If we would be just to +others, it is well to practise the rule of silence unless we have +something favourable to say. The love of Justice should lead us, +whenever we hear anything to a man's discredit about which there is no +absolute certainty, to give him the benefit of the doubt. When a +prisoner is being tried for an offence, the judge always tells the jury +that if there be any reasonable doubt about the evidence the prisoner +must have the benefit of it. It is better that the guilty go free than +that the innocent should suffer. + +We can be unjust in our thoughts of others, as well as in our actions +and in what we say. We are constantly warned by the best and wisest men +about the folly of rash judgments. These words, from the Sermon on the +Mount, are an example of many similar warnings: "Judge not, that ye be +not judged; for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged." It is +possible to be guilty of the gravest injustice to others, by forming +harsh opinions of them in our own minds for which we have not sufficient +ground. It is not necessary to utter our judgment in order to be unjust; +we can harm people merely by thinking evil of them, because a harsh +judgment in the mind affects all our dealings with them, and may thus +injure them in the opinion of others. + +In seeking to be just men, our grand guide should be the Golden Rule: +"As ye would that men should do to you, do to them likewise." If, when +about to do, or say, or think, anything unjust of any one, we could get +into the way of asking ourselves how we should look upon the matter if +the positions of the persons were reversed, there would be far less +injustice in the world. Justice is one of the great virtues, and it is +worth striving after. It is a virtue that we can only possess in a +marked degree by constant practice in doing just acts, in speaking just +words, and in thinking just thoughts. + + + + +No. XI. + +BENEVOLENCE + ++Benevolence is good will. The benevolent man has kind thoughts of +everyone, kind words for everyone, and a helping hand for those who need +it.+ + + +Goldsmith's biographer tells us that when the poet was taking a stroll +one evening, he met a woman with five children, who implored his +charity. Her husband was in the hospital, and she was from the country, +and had neither food nor shelter for her helpless offspring. Goldsmith's +kind heart melted at the story. He was almost as poor as herself, and +had no money in his pocket, but he took her to the college gate, and +brought out to her the blankets from his bed to cover the children, and +part of his clothes to sell for food. In the night he found himself +cold, and so he cut open his bed and buried himself among the feathers, +where he was found next morning by a college friend, with whom he had +promised to breakfast. + +One boy has a feeling of spite against another, owing to some trivial +quarrel. To vent it, he goes to his enemy's room, and, in his absence, +slashes the gut of his tennis racket with a knife. That is an example of +Malevolence, or evil will, or, as it is commonly called, Malice. + +The benevolent man is he who calls the whole world kin, and refuses to +harbour an evil intention against any one. To have a mind like that +requires long practise in patience, charity, fortitude, forgiveness, and +self-denial. St. Paul, in one of his most famous letters, says that +Benevolence is made up of these very things; so that in this matter we +have not only our own experience, but a great authority to corroborate +it. Shakespeare, too, says: + + + "Deep malice makes too deep incision; + Forget, forgive; conclude, and be agreed." + + +The saying of another poet, "To err is human, to forgive divine," might +well read, "To avenge is human, to forgive divine." Every one who gives +way to malicious anger usurps the place of God, and says to himself, +"Vengeance is mine." But who ever got any lasting satisfaction out of +revenge, when wrath has died away, and the injury he has suffered begins +to look smaller? Sir John Lubbock well says: "Revenge does us more harm +than the injury itself; and no one ever intended to hurt another, but +did at the same time a greater harm to himself, 'as the bee shall +perish if she stings angrily.' The vulture, we are told, scents nothing +but carrion, and the snapping turtle is said to bite before it leaves +the egg, and after it is dead." + +If a little boy is hurt, how kind the big boy becomes in his help and in +his words! And yet, when he gets well again, perhaps the same big boy +will make his life miserable, through unkindnesses which really amount +to bullying. + +It is difficult to say kind things of those whom we do not like, and it +is far harder to think kind thoughts about them; but, if we wish to be +really men of good will, we shall have to make the effort to do both. +Difficult as it may be, it is quite certain that the trial is worth +making. The benevolent man is the happiest man in the world. Happiness +is thus brought to us by striving to do what we think we shall hate +doing. There is an old proverb which says: "Pursue happiness, and she +will flee; avoid her, and she will pursue." + +The distinctive feature of Benevolence is willingness to lend a helping +hand to those in need of it. One great name in this respect is that of +William Wilberforce, who gave up his time and energies to abolishing the +slave trade. No other human being ever did a greater work than that, and +no other name will live longer in history than his. Another great name +is that of John Howard, who gave the best years of his life to +improving the condition of prisons, not only in England, but in other +countries, too. "In three years he personally inspected every prison in +the three kingdoms that presented any peculiarity. He travelled ten +thousand miles at his own expense, and delivered from prison a large +number of poor debtors by paying their debts. Wherever he went he +brought some alleviation to the lot of the prisoner by gifts of money, +bread, meat, or tea, and by remonstrating with jailers, surgeons, +chaplains, and magistrates. Several prisons underwent a complete +renovation and reformation, solely in consequence of his conversations +with county magistrates and circuit judges." + +We may not all be able to do great deeds of Benevolence; but we can all +get into the habit of lending a hand whenever it is needed--not merely +when a great occasion demands, but habitually. "A handful of good life +is worth a bushel of learning." We can all practise keeping cheerful +tempers, and saying kind words, and doing small acts of kindness, even +to enemies. What distinguished Christ, as a teacher, from all other +teachers that went before him, was His treatment of this subject of +Benevolence. The old and well-established law was: "An eye for an eye, +and a tooth for a tooth." He laid down a new law, the principle of +Benevolence: "If thine enemy hunger, feed him: if he thirst, give him +drink." + + + + +No. XII. + +AMBITION + ++Ambition is that longing for pre-eminence which urges men to intense and +long-sustained exertions. Ambition is good or evil, according as it is +selfish, or seeks the good of mankind.+ + + +Ambition is the putting forth of immense energy with a definite purpose +in view. Nearly all the great achievements of the human race have been +accomplished by means of the ambition of individuals, Alexander the +Great, Cæsar, St. Paul, Henry IV. of France, Raleigh, Gustavus Adolphus, +Richelieu, Warren Hastings, Clive, Napoleon, Wellington, Nelson, +Faraday, Pallissy, Livingstone, Gordon, Edison, all achieved great deeds +through ambition. But as the names represent types of good and bad +character, so there are two kinds of ambition, noble and selfish, good +and bad. + +It must be confessed that Ambition is apt to lead men astray. It is hard +to be ambitious without being at the same time selfish, proud, and +covetous. Ambition is a dangerous possession to the young man whose +character is not well grounded, and who has not learned to put the good +of his fellow-men above his own personal advancement; and these two +things always clash in questions of right and wrong. We are told that +when the Russian engineers were consulting the Czar about the line of a +railway from St. Petersburg to Moscow, he refused to listen to a +statement of difficulties, but took a ruler, and, laying it on a map of +Russia, drew a straight line between the two cities, and ordered the +engineers to disregard towns, and private homes, and obstacles of any +other kind. Napoleon literally waded "through slaughter to a throne," +and cared nothing for the sacrifice of his soldiers or the tears of a +whole nation. + +Ambition is bad when it leads men to seek power to gratify personal +ends. Cæsar's ambition was evil because he thirsted for personal power +for his own gratification and pride. The thirst for money is a bad +Ambition. It nearly always ends in making man a miser, than whom there +is no man more contemptible and pitiable. It is seldom a man amasses a +very great fortune without depriving other people of their rights. The +wise man said: "He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent." + +Ambition often destroys the character of the man who gives way to it. +Macbeth was a great general, and a brave and honest man. In thinking +over the murder of the king, which his wife proposed to him, he said: + + + "I have no spur + To prick the sides of my intent, but only + Vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself, + And falls on the other"; + + +meaning that he had no motive whatever for killing Duncan except the +ambition to occupy his throne. Ambition destroyed him. Frederick the +Great bound himself to befriend and support the young ruler of Austria, +yet he violated his oath, robbed his ally, and plunged Europe into a +long and desolating war. To quote his own words: "Ambition, interest, +the desire of making people talk about me, carried the day, and I +decided for war." He sacrificed his own soul for the sake of the glory +arising out of victorious war. + +The danger of Ambition to young men is that it leads to discontent with +their present lot in life. Many a young man has been utterly ruined by +giving way to discontent because of Ambition. A young man in a bank, +filled with Ambition, wishes to improve his position. His salary is +small, and he feels cramped. He begins to speculate through brokers, +paying a little cash down. Perhaps he is successful at first. Then he +hears of some railway shares that are going up in price every day. If he +can only get some money to buy he can repay it in a week, and make a +great profit for himself. He takes the bank's money. He does this +several times, until at last the crash comes, as it always does, and the +young man is sent to spend some of the best years of his life in gaol. +Ambition has destroyed his reputation, and has cost him his liberty and +his friends. + +To excel in his present calling, is a lawful Ambition for a young man, +leaving it to the future, to his reputation, and to God, to lift him +higher. How much wiser and happier Macbeth would have been if he had +kept to his first resolution: + + + "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me." + + +It is quite possible for Ambition and Contentment to go together, and to +produce the very greatest results in the long run. This was the ambition +of General Gordon, that he might excel others as a soldier, and yet be +content with a position humble as men count such things. He refused +repeated offers of money from the Emperor of China. He accepted the +Peacock Feather and Yellow Jacket to give pleasure to his mother, and to +enable him to exert the necessary influence upon the Chinese in settling +the country after the horrors of war. This was the kind of Ambition held +by Livingstone, by Palissy the potter, and, above all men in modern +times, by Faraday. When Faraday made known some of his discoveries, he +was offered large sums to make experiments for merchants, and he might +soon have become very rich, but it would have taken all his time. He +refused; he remained poor; he gave himself up to scientific research, +and he made the name of England great in the scientific world, as it had +never been before. + +The highest Ambition a man can have is to be able to make a sacrifice of +his inclinations, and to give himself up to some noble work for the good +of mankind, without any thought of profit or pride, or place or power, +or any other form of selfishness. + + + + +No. XIII. + +PATRIOTISM + ++Patriotism is love of and devotion to one's country. It is the spirit +that prompts us from love of our country to obey its laws, to support +and defend its existence and its rights, and to promote its welfare.+ + + +Maurice once said, very truly, "that man is most just, on the whole, to +every other nation who has the strongest feeling of attachment to his +own." Love of one's country, if it be real and deeply rooted in the +heart, is a sacred thing. There are few nobler feelings, if only they +are genuine. A boy's patriotism is generally associated with fireworks +and brass bands, and it is right enough that he should make merry on his +country's great days. But we should guard against thinking that there is +nothing more in Patriotism than fireworks and bragging and brass bands. +The show, the display, should be only the mark of a real love and +respect within the breast. + +It is natural to be proud of one's country. If a stranger should abuse +it in our hearing, we should feel indignant, and a natural feeling of +pride would urge us to refute his statements. There are many things to +be proud of, even in a country by no means great in arms or in +territory. He would be a very small-minded man who refused to +acknowledge the right of every country to the devotion of its children. +But, as Maurice said, "he is most just to others who has the deepest +attachment to his own." It is not boasting to say that we belong to the +greatest race that the world has ever seen. The growth of our race, not +only in the little mother island, but also in every continent of the +world, has not been paralleled by any other people. No other nation in +history has retained so long its supremacy among the nations of the +earth. When the great nations of Greece and Rome reached the height of +their power, they maintained it for a time by means of slaves, and gave +themselves up to luxury and vice. But, as soon as they became effeminate +through loss of vigour and the idleness of their citizens, their power, +and even their national existence, were destroyed. Instead of +maintaining its power and wealth by slave armies and slave labour, the +English people abolished slavery off the face of the civilized world. +England paid Portugal $1,500,000, Spain $2,000,000, to induce them to +give up the slave trade. For fifty years England kept a squadron on the +west coast of Africa to keep down the slave trade, at a cost of +$3,500,000 a year. She paid the West Indies and Mauritius $100,000,000 +to free their slaves. The sum which it cost the English-speaking people +of America to put down the slave trade cannot be calculated. + +The ancient nations of Greece and Rome derived immense sums of money +from their colonies. They made the colonies pay for the support of all +the armies and the general expense of government. England has never +taxed a colony with any great burden. It is estimated by Sir John +Lubbock that in ten years, from 1859 to 1869, $210,000,000 was spent by +the mother country upon her colonies. + +It is the glory of Canadians to belong to such a race. The old land from +which we came is worthy of our deepest love and veneration and pride. As +Tennyson patriotically says: + + + "There is no land like England, + Where'er the light of day be; + There are no hearts like English hearts, + Such hearts of oak as they be." + + +And this new land, too, claims our love and loyalty. No boy ever grew to +manhood with a fairer heritage than the young Canadian possesses. But if +his privileges are many, so, too, are the duties of citizenship. After +all, the best patriot is the best citizen. It is easy to cheer with the +crowd, even when its cry is "Our country, right or wrong." That can +never be the cry of the true patriot. In fact, real Patriotism concerns +itself not with "cries," but with deeds. He is said to be the truest +patriot "who can make two blades of corn grow where only one grew +before." How true that is for Canadians! Our country does not at this +stage of its history require the partisan, or the politician; we have +too many of them. It needs men who love her as men love their homes and +families; thinking it an honour and a pride to labour for them. + +Patriotism is a sacred thing, a sacred duty. Ruskin says, "Nothing is +permanently helpful to any race or condition of men but the spirit that +is in their own hearts, kindled by the love of their native land." + +It is our duty to cultivate the love of our country, to do everything in +our power to make that love stronger as we grow older. If we love our +country, if we see that in her which calls forth our enthusiasm, then we +are ready to make any sacrifice for her that she may demand, even to +shedding our blood. Ruskin also says: "It is precisely in accepting +death as the end of all, and in laying down his life for his friends, +that the hero and patriot of all time has become the glory and safety of +his country." + + + + +No. XIV. + +BODILY EXERCISE + ++Mens sana in corpore sano.+ + ++"The glory of young men is their strength."+ + ++"He that hath clean hands waxeth stronger and stronger."+ + + +Dr. Hall tells the following true story: Two friends are in a canoe in +the Mozambique channel. A flaw of wind upsets the boat, which fills and +sinks, and the men are left to swim for their lives. One says to the +other: "It is a long pull to the shore, but the water is warm and we are +strong. We will hold by each other, and all will be well." "No," says +his friend, "I have lost my breath already; each wave that strikes us +knocks it from my body." In a moment he is gone. His friend can do +nothing; only swim, and then float, and rest himself, and breathe; to +swim again, and then float, and rest again; hour after hour to swim and +float with that calm determination that he will go home; hour after +hour, till at last the palm trees show distinct upon the shore, and then +the figures of animals. And then, at last, his foot touches the coral, +and he is safe. That is an example of the difference wrought in two men +merely by exercise, or the steadiness of training. + +Exercise makes the body strong. Many a man has reason to bless the +memory of his father or teacher, who, when he was a weak boy, with +flabby muscles, and without energy or strength of will, made him take +regular exercise. A young man who was threatened by weak lungs was +ordered to take regular Exercise every day with clubs and dumb-bells and +a vigorous walk in the open air. After a few months' steady practice he +found that he could, with his hands, lift his elder brother, lying flat +on the ground, by the clothes and elevate him above his own head. +Neglect of Exercise keeps the muscles weak, makes the blood impure, and +renders the body liable to the diseases which are ever ready to attack +him. We now know that diseases enter the human body by means of minute +living germs, which float unseen in the atmosphere. Practically, no +people living in towns escape these germs; but the strong body is able +to throw them off, while the weak succumbs. There are in the blood +thousands of little bodies which act as scavengers, and are continually +fighting against foreign invaders that get into the system. If the body +becomes weak through lack of Exercise, the blood suffers, the number of +scavengers becomes lessened, and disease more easily fastens upon it. + +Not only is the body weakened by lack of Exercise, but the brain is even +more so. If a stream of pure blood be necessary for the strength of the +body, it is far more necessary for the health of the brain. Parents +often complain that their sons are stupid, and are not able to see +through things, and have poor memories, when the trouble lies chiefly in +the fact that the blood is unable to carry off the worn-out elements of +the brain, because it is not kept pure by regular Exercise and fresh +air. The secret of mental activity is complete bodily health. The boy +who is subject to headaches cannot study hard; nine-tenths of the +headaches arise from giving the stomach too much hard work, and the +brain too little. The stomach is capable of an immense amount of labour +if the other members of the body will only work, too; but if they get +idle, it is apt to break down under its burdens, and then the brain +suffers. + +The English race has always been characterized by immense energy. +Probably no other race has ever been so distinguished for enterprise and +energy. It is the energy of the race which has led to the growth of its +vast colonies, and to the maintenance of empire over less civilized +peoples. It has made the United States the great nation that it is. +Energy makes the man, as it makes the nation. The vast majority of +people depend for energy upon Exercise. Loafing destroys energy. Mental +energy depends very largely upon physical energy, except in the case of +the sick. Physical energy depends upon taut muscles and supple joints. + +The relation of Exercise to morality is very close. If a young man fills +up his spare time with Exercise, he runs no risk of going to the bad +morally. After a day's work, and active Exercise to end it, he needs a +great deal of sleep; and his sleep is sound and refreshing. The +sleeplessness that arises from loafing causes an immense amount of +mischief to the moral nature--impure thoughts, or half-waking dreams, +with, perhaps, degrading habits growing out of them. When the body is in +a good state of health, man's faith in God, and in truth, purity, and +honour, is bright and steadfast. When his body is run down, through +neglect, everything looks gloomy. + +An important part of Exercise is the work of keeping the body clean. It +is just as necessary to keep the outside of the body clean and sweet as +the inside; and as the inside is being continuously cleansed by pure +blood, the outside should be cleansed regularly with water. The decayed +matter in the body, carried off by the blood, escapes chiefly in one +way--that is, through the pores of the skin, and if these pores are +allowed to get choked by neglect the dead matter remains in the system +and pollutes it, and the body soon gets out of order. It is a duty to +take sufficient exercise every day to incite perspiration, and then a +cold plunge or sponge bath, or, at least, a vigorous rub-down. If we +could only get into the habit of doing that, we might snap our fingers +at most kinds of disease. + +These things depend largely upon daily Exercise: Bodily Strength, Mental +Activity, Energy, the Moral Life. + + + + +No. XV. + +HABIT + ++By Habit is meant accustoming ourselves to do certain things regularly. +Habit is a tendency of the mind and body resulting from frequent +repetition of the same acts.+ + + +An old man who had very deformed fingers said: "For over fifty years I +used to drive a stage, and these bent fingers show the effect of holding +the reins for so many years." Carlyle said: "Habit is the deepest law of +human nature. It is our supreme strength, and also, in certain +circumstances, our miserablest weakness." In the life of the young, +especially, the two greatest laws are Habit and Imitation. There is +nothing a boy's parents fear so much as that he will imitate bad things +in the characters of others, and so learn bad habits. When a boy has +learnt a great many bad habits, it is almost impossible to get rid of +their effects, even though he should change his habits. They leave marks +upon the character, just as smallpox does upon the face. + +It is easy to learn bad habits. It is just like the old game of "Follow +your Leader." Unless the leader is a very clever athlete, most boys +have no difficulty in following and imitating what he does. When once a +boy makes up his mind that he is not going to be very particular about +his language, it is astonishing how easily he will learn to swear, and +to use unclean words. But if he should become ashamed of such a habit, +how hard it is to drop it! He may make the strongest resolutions, and +try his best to put them in practice; but he will find himself dropping +into profane language when he gets excited, or loses his temper, or at +other times when it is particularly necessary for him to be careful. + +With many people to do a thing once is to form the Habit. It is well +known that the taste for wine and spirits is often inherited by a boy +from his parents. For that boy, or young man, to drink once is to form a +Habit, though he may be quite unconscious of it. We always do form +habits unconsciously, and we often know nothing of them until they are +fully formed and have nearly mastered us. If some kind friend warn the +youth, he may drop the habit at once; but, if not, drinking will soon be +a positive pleasure, and, before he knows it, he will be on the primrose +way. Let a young man give way a few times to impure imaginations and +thoughts, and he will soon be in danger of a habit that will destroy +him, body and soul. The curse of the human race is the tendency to form +bad habits. + +The surest way to avoid bad habits is to form good ones before the +former become established. And the first good Habit that will help us to +avoid or conquer bad ones is _never to be idle_. "An idle man is like +the housekeeper who keeps the door open for any burglar." I do not mean +by not being idle that we should never cease from work. But I do mean +that as soon as work ceases play should begin. Idleness is loafing; and +nothing so surely produces other bad habits as the habit of loafing. The +boy who has a game in view the moment his work ceases is not in very +great danger of forming bad habits. The boy who is in danger is he who, +having done the least possible amount of work in school hours, is tired +by the effort to do nothing, and so would rather lie upon his bed than +take exercise. + +The Habit of exercise is a sacred duty. All feel the effects of +systematic neglect of fresh air and muscular training, and most young +men and boys do take exercise spasmodically--one day a great deal, and +the next, perhaps, none at all. The bodily system can no more flourish +under that sort of treatment than it could if one were to over-eat on +one day, and go absolutely without on the next. The only way to bring +the body to a high state of cultivation and to keep it there is to form +the habit of exercise, and let nothing interfere with it. It need not be +always the same; it should be varied; but it should always be active. +If a boy does not care for very violent exercise, he can substitute for +it light gymnasium work, or club and dumb-bell exercise. The great +Sandow says that he keeps his strength up to the point of efficiency by +clubs and dumb-bells, and open-air exercise. The great thing about it is +regularity; that is to say, Habit. + +Another great factor of success in life is the Habit of early rising. We +all love to lie in bed a little longer than we ought; but we should +fight against it. Mr. Gladstone, throughout his years of vigour, took +seven hours sleep, and he said to a friend: "I should like to have +eight; I hate getting up in the morning, and I hate it the same every +morning. But one can do anything by habit, and when I have had my seven +hours sleep my habit is to get up." King George III. was an early riser. +He once said to a man who came late: "Six hours sleep enough for a man, +seven for a woman, and eight for a fool." Dickens use to rise at seven, +have a cold bath, "and then blaze away till three o'clock." Kant, the +greatest philosopher of modern times, used to retire at ten, and his +servant had strict orders never to allow him to sleep later than five, +no matter how strongly he might plead for rest. Sir Walter Scott said: +"God bless that habit of getting up at seven. I could do nothing without +it." The Duke of Wellington said that when we turn in bed it is time to +turn out. + +The wise boy will form habits of reading good books regularly, +especially the Bible; of exact and strict punctuality in all his +engagements, great or small; of neatness in his appearance; of personal +cleanliness; of politeness of speech. A Habit once learned will stick to +one, whether good or bad. + + + "Habit at first is but a silken thread.... + Beware! that thread may bind thee as a chain." + + + + +No. XVI. + +INDUSTRY + ++Industry is the fully formed habit of work. It is that which prevents us +from wasting time, and strength, and the powers of mind. Its opposite is +Indolence, or Laziness.+ + + +Work is a fundamental law of life. He who does not work must suffer, +whether he be rich or poor, because man cannot break any law of nature +without paying the penalty. If a man deliberately sin against nature, +that is, against God, he may be forgiven, but he cannot escape the +result, or, in other words, the punishment. + +But all work is not Industry. If we are compelled to work against our +will, that is not Industry. There must be the habit, and no habit can be +fully formed without the mind's consent. Industry is work done with a +will; not at odd moments, with wide spaces of idleness between, but +regularly as a habit, which is as much the business of life as eating +and sleeping. + +In the history of mankind, Industry has been a far greater power than +Genius. Genius, indeed, has been called "the power of taking pains"; +that is, immense perseverance. The amount of good done to mankind by men +of genius who have had no Industry is hardly worth counting up. Nearly +all the world's great men have been men of great diligence. As Cicero +said: "Diligence is the one virtue that includes all the rest." Solomon +has the same thought: "The soul of the diligent shall be made fat." It +is astonishing what a large number of great men have risen by their own +industry to positions of the highest authority and influence. Faraday +was the greatest chemist of modern times. His father was a village +blacksmith, and he himself was first a newsboy, and then learnt the +trade of bookbinding. He became interested in books through making their +covers. Turner, the greatest modern landscape painter, was the son of a +barber. He left school when he was thirteen; and from that time earned +his own living. + +Sir William Jones, the great oriental scholar, was a man of enormous +Industry. Before he was twenty years old, he had mastered Greek, Latin, +Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, and had made great progress in Arabic +and Persian. He divided his day as follows: + + + "Seven hours to law, to soothing slumber seven, + Ten to the world allot, and all to heaven." + + +Hugh Miller, the great geologist, began life as a stonemason. Elihu +Burritt, a blacksmith, mastered eighteen languages and twenty-two +dialects. Such perseverance and diligence should make us feel ashamed of +neglected opportunities. + +The main thing to keep in mind about Industry is that it is a habit, +and, like most good habits, somewhat difficult to acquire. A boy is +given a piece of work by his father. He goes at it with great vigour; +but, in a short time, his attention is attracted by his dog, or birds, +and he leaves the work for something more pleasant; he is not +Industrious. A boy begins his night lessons and works five minutes, and +then remembers something that happened that afternoon at play; he +returns to his book for five minutes more, and then thinks of the next +half-holiday--and so on. Industry means concentration, and he has not +learnt anything about that yet. + +At the beginning of the lesson, a boy pays close attention; but he soon +sees that his nails require attention, or his pencil a finer point, or +the nearness of his neighbour suggests a small trick. Perhaps his head +is heavy and requires to be held up by one hand, or the hero of the +latest story persists in thrusting himself upon the mind, or he wishes +he were out camping. Industry is attention; and he has not yet learned +how to keep his mind on his work. + +Most boys suffer from lack of power to pay attention for a considerable +time. With some it is a disease arising from physical causes. If a boy +has got into the habit of imagining impure things, his power of +attention is in danger of being destroyed; if he has learned to practise +secret vice, his brain is being destroyed. Some boys possess marvellous +power of concentration. Macaulay's mother tells us that he wrote a +fairly complete history of the world, occupying twelve pages, when he +was seven years old. But the average boy needs to have his power of +attention cultivated, as any other faculty is trained. He can do this, +first, by striving to take an interest in everything that presents +itself to his mind, no matter how dry; and, secondly, by practising +attention. He can do this by keeping a watch open, and seeing how long +he can work without thinking of outside things. There is no more notable +example of industry in our own day than that of Edison. He is said to +sleep only three or four hours in the twenty-four for months at a time. +Those who live with him say that his Industry is the most remarkable +thing about him. Some one once asked him how to succeed in life. His +answer was: "Don't look at the clock!" + +Attention produces the habit of Industry, that is, of wasting not a +moment in idleness. Lord Nelson said that he attributed his success in +life to a habit he formed of being fifteen minutes ahead of time for all +his engagements. Imagine a boy being fifteen minutes ahead of time in +rising, and at meals, lessons, and prayers! The habitual late comer is +destroying his faculty for Industry. No one can afford to waste time; +and there would be less time wasted if we could only remember that +idleness is Suffering, if not now, then later on. + +The great Cobbet said: "I learned grammar when I was a private soldier +on the pay of sixpence a day. The edge of my berth was my seat; my +knapsack was my bookcase; a bit of board on my lap was my writing table. +I had no money for candles; in the winter time it was rarely that I +could get any evening light but that of the fire, and only my turn at +that." + +Sir John Lubbock says: "Industry brings its own reward. Columbus +discovered America while searching for a western passage to India; and, +as Goethe pointed out, Saul found a kingdom while he was looking for his +father's asses." + +There is, for a boy, no motto grander than Luther's _Nulla dies sine +linea_. + +An old sun-dial in a churchyard in Scotland has these words engraved on +it: + + + "I am a shadow, + So art thou; + I mark time, + Dost thou?" + + + + +No. XVII. + +SELF-CONTROL + ++Self-control is the power a man exercises over himself--the power to +check his desires and passions; the power to deny himself present +pleasures for the sake of a great purpose; the power to concentrate his +energies on a single object in life.+ + + +Self-control is the basis of all Character, and the root of all the +virtues. Without it, man is like a ship that has lost its rudder, and +tosses helpless upon the waves. Self-control is one of the hardest +things to learn, though no one can succeed in life without it. We say of +the poor drunkard: "He could never say no!" The young man who can say no +to his friends, when his Conscience tells him he should, has learned one +of the hardest lessons of his life, and is in no danger of many of the +worst pitfalls of early manhood. Tennyson says: + + + "Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control, + These three alone lead life to sovereign power." + + +The wise man said: "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; +and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." + +A boy at school finds the greatest difficulty in paying _attention_. +His mind keeps wandering away from his work. He makes good resolutions, +but finds that, in spite of them, he cannot _fix_ his attention. After a +time, he despairs of himself, and gives up his chance, and perhaps +bitterly disappoints his parents. The trouble was lack of Self-control. +He had never learned how to master himself. He who can master himself +can master almost any difficulty. He must learn what Concentration +means. It is a habit, and can only be acquired little by little, by +earnest effort, and a strict watch upon self. A good plan is to keep a +watch open, and see how long the mind can be kept at work without +suffering any interruption. + +If we learn to control self in one way, it becomes easier to do so in +others. If a boy is given to flying into a rage, and practises checking +himself, until the habit is controlled, it will not be nearly so hard to +control himself in other ways. One of the hardest things to conquer is +the habit of exaggeration; it is so easy to overstate a thing, so hard +to keep to the _exact_ truth. The boy who conquers a habit like that is +on the road to thorough Self-control. + +Control of the appetite is, perhaps, the most difficult form of +Self-control for boys to practise. He who gives way to his appetite +yields the reins to a reckless driver. There is no vice more disgusting +or more dangerous than gluttony. It is the vestibule to all the other +vices. It is quite as important a duty to control one's stomach as to +check one's tongue. The best things are apt to come to him who has +learned to do without; though Self-control for its own sake is the +herald of happiness. In the life of General Gordon, we are told that he +once offered a native of the Soudan a drink of water. The man declined +the water, saying that he had had a drink _the day before_. A drink +every other day was enough for him; he had learned Self-control. + +History is full of examples of the failure of men and nations through +the loss of Self-control. The Greek nation was destroyed because the +people gave themselves up to idleness and the gratification of their +desires. So were the Romans, who were conquered by the savage Goths, who +possessed the virtue of Self-restraint. No man ever yet became great who +did not practise the great virtue of Self-denial. + +St. Paul said: "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection." + + + + +No. XVIII. + +SELF-RELIANCE + ++Self-reliance is the power to help one's self. It is personal +independence. It is that which makes labour enjoyable. It is that which +adds Zest to a man's pursuits in life, and produces the highest success.+ + + +He who learns the great lesson of Self-reliance will never lack the +means of livelihood or the opportunity for usefulness. It is the duty of +every boy to learn to depend upon himself. His father may be a rich man +now, but it is far easier to lose wealth than to create it, and the day +may come when his father may have to depend upon him. That every man +should earn his own bread is one of the fundamental duties of life. St. +Paul laid it down as a law for the Christians in Thessaly that "if any +would not work, neither should he eat." + +Most people have the stern necessity to labour laid upon them; but there +are some who have inherited, or expect to inherit, wealth, and who see +no need to employ their abilities in active, steady, persistent labour, +and yet it is just these who have the power to confer special benefits +and blessings upon their fellow-men. He who has no cares about the +earning of his daily bread has a great opportunity to devote himself to +some special line of labour which will result in a lasting benefit to +the community in which he lives, and which requires leisure for its +proper development. The rich man is a curse to his country, instead of a +blessing, if he keeps his capital from active employment, and at the +same time neglects to use for the good of his fellows that higher sort +of capital--his personal abilities. + +If the schoolboy wish to make real progress, he must learn to depend +upon himself alone. He will never master a subject thoroughly if he go +constantly to the master, or to another boy, for help. He who gets +another to do his lessons for him cheats not only the master, but +himself also. The boy who loves to overcome difficulties, whether they +be in the gymnasium, or the class-room, or the cricket field, is sure to +succeed in the struggles of after life. + +Self-reliance comes naturally to some people, especially to those who +have bodies trained by vigorous exercise. To others it becomes a habit +only after long effort, but it is beyond the reach of no one. Two things +are required for its attainment: determination and practice. We need +not expect to attain any good habit without failure at first. But, as +has been wisely said: "Perseverance, self-reliance, energetic effort, +are doubly strengthened when you rise from failure to battle again." + +Emerson said: "Self-trust is the first secret of success"; and in +another place: "Self-trust is the essence of heroism." + +It would be easy to give a great many examples of the virtue of +Self-reliance. One of the greatest in modern times was that of Lord +Beaconsfield, Prime Minister of England. He tried many times before he +at last got a seat in parliament. The first time he tried to speak in +that great assembly, he was received with shouts of laughter, when he +said: "Gentlemen, I now sit down, but a day will come when you shall +hear me." All will remember the wonderful Self-reliance of the Black +Prince at the battle of Creçy. At the close of his life, Jean Paul said: +"I have made as much out of myself as could be made of the stuff, and no +man should require more." + +Lord Bacon said: "Men seem neither to understand their riches nor their +strength: of the former they believe greater things than they should, of +the latter much less. Self-reliance and Self-control will teach a man +to drink out of his own cistern, and eat his own sweet bread, and to +learn and labour truly to get his living, and carefully to expend the +good things committed to his trust." + +Self-reliance does not mean Self-assertion. The truly self-reliant man +is modest in his language and manners. The boaster has usually very +little backbone to his character. Self-reliance is a deeply-rooted +feeling of reserve power, which makes a man strong under all +circumstances. It carries with it an equally strong feeling of +self-respect. The old French proverb says that a man is rated by others +as he rates himself. + +Goethe's advice to young men was: "Make good thy standing place, and +move the world." + + + + +No. XIX. + +FRIENDSHIP + ++Friendship is that feeling between people which leads them to trust each +other entirely, to tell each other of their difficulties, hopes, and +fears; to share with each other pleasures and sorrows; to help each +other when need arises, even though it involves a sacrifice.+ + + +Cicero thought Friendship of so much importance in life that he wrote a +treatise on it. He said: "Of all the things which wisdom provides for +the happiness of a lifetime, by far the greatest is friendship." +Certainly, it is a thing for which human nature seems to cry out. Lord +Bacon quotes an old saying: "Whosoever is delighted in solitude is +either a wild beast or a god." Just as we all desire to be liked rather +than to be hated, so we long to have, at least, one friend to whom we +can tell everything, and who will stand by us. We envy him who has many +friends. We may set it down as a truth, that if we have no friends the +fault lies in ourselves. There is something lacking in us, or there is +some horrid thing in our character that others cannot like. Real +Friendship must be based on admiration, or liking for some quality that +he who is desired as a friend possesses. The boy who lacks friends, but +longs for them, must search his own heart and character to see if he +cannot find out what is the matter with him. + +It is better to have one or two friends than to be popular with the +crowd. Some boys will do anything to be popular, even to sacrificing +Friendship. It is quite a common thing for boys to make themselves out +to be much worse than they really are in order to gain admiration. They +will pretend to be guilty of all sorts of things in order to get others +to think them more daring than themselves. The worst of it is that a boy +of that kind often becomes thoroughly bad at heart. + +It is in the power of every one to have at least one sincere friend; if +we are willing to be unselfish, to forget ourselves, and to try to help +others, we can have many. There is nothing that makes the daily life so +pleasant as the companionship of a friend present, or the thought of a +friend absent. Cicero said: "A true friend is he who is, as it were, a +second self." But, if we wish to keep our friends, we must be prepared +to make sacrifices sometimes. No man ever kept a friend for a long time +without occasionally doing something to prove the warmth of his feeling +for that friend. Friendships are generally broken because one or the +other partner turns out selfish. Boyish Friendships would be much more +lasting than they are, except for the great difficulty most boys have in +"giving up" to others. + +If Friendship is a sacred thing, how necessary it is to use care in +making a friend! It is the sign of wisdom to have many companions, but +few friends. To have many companions is to knock off our own rough +corners, and to teach us the principle of "give and take." In dealing +with a real friend, it should be mostly "give" and very little "take." +He who tries to make a friend should begin by giving his Friendship, and +give it with all his heart. But if he does that to one who is morally +below his own standard, the result will be disastrous. The old Romans +had a saying, taken from their poet Virgil, _Facilis descensus Averno +est_, which means that it is wonderfully easy to lower one's standard of +right and wrong. The poet went on to say: "But to retrace your steps, +and escape to the upper air, this is a work, this is a toil." + +There is nothing truer than the saying that a man is known by his +friends. A man's Friendships are the test of his character. A Spanish +proverb says: "Tell me whom you live with, and I will tell you who you +are." When a boy leaves school to go into a bank, or other business +house, his employers watch to see what friends he has. If they are not +what they should be, the young man is looked upon with suspicion; he is +not put into a position of trust; he may, some day, be told that his +services are no longer wanted. In buying an article which we intend to +last a long time, we are careful to choose the very best that can be had +for the money. If a man is going to buy a horse, how careful he is to +see that there is no blemish in him, and how particular he is to secure +a thoroughly reliable man to look after him! And yet the same person is +perhaps quite careless about the choice of his friends, though their +power to yield him the greatest pleasures in life, or to bring to him +the greatest sorrows, cannot be measured. Wise is he who heeds the words +of the wise man: + + + "Enter not into the path of the wicked, + And go not in the way of evil men. + Avoid it, pass not by it, + Turn from it, and pass away. + + "For they sleep not, + Except they have done mischief; + And their sleep is taken away, + Unless they cause some to fall. + + "For they eat the bread of wickedness, + And drink the wine of violence. + + "But the path of the just + Is as the shining light, + That shineth more and more + Unto the perfect day." + + +If you possess a friend who satisfies your heart and conscience, cling +to him under all circumstances. If he find fault with you, be patient. +"Faithful are the wounds of a friend." If he give way to wrath, give +back the soft answer that turns it away. + +If you cannot have the Friendship of the illustrious living, it is easy +to obtain that of the illustrious dead. The Friendship of good books is +one of the greatest pleasures of life. To win it, it is only necessary +to form the habit of reading regularly, no matter how little at a time. + +The best guide for a boy in forming Friendships is to choose none for +his friend whom his father or mother would disapprove of, _if they knew +all about him_. + + + + +No. XX. + +GENTLEMANLINESS + ++The four chief marks of a gentleman are: Honesty, Gentleness, +Generosity, Modesty.+ + + +Thackeray, who is noted among great English writers as a hater of shams, +said: "Perhaps a gentleman is a rarer man than some of us think for. +Which of us can point out many such in his circle--men whose aims are +generous, whose truth is constant, whose want of meanness makes them +simple, who can look the world honestly in the face with an equal manly +sympathy for the great and small? We all know a hundred whose coats are +very well made, and a score who have excellent manners, and one or two +happy beings who are what they call in the inner circles, and have shot +into the very centre of fashion; but of gentlemen, how many?" + +These four qualities of the gentleman include more than might appear at +a single glance. Honesty means far more than not stealing. The +"gentleman's psalm" tells us as one of his characteristics that "he +speaketh the truth in his heart." He who does that is honest in his +words, in his deeds, and in his thoughts. He so hates dishonesty that +honesty has become part of his life--it is in his heart. Such a man can +look the world in the face without flinching. He is the most fearless of +men, because he has nothing to hide from the light of day. As one great +man once said of another, "He has the ten commandments stamped upon his +countenance." Here, then, to be honest is to be brave also; we cannot +imagine a true gentleman as a coward. + +The second quality is Gentleness. It is hard for a boy to be gentle, +because he spends most of the time during which he controls his own +actions with other boys, and gentleness is not much called for. Some +boys look upon this quality as womanish, the mark of a coward, a thing +to be avoided. But what should we say of a boy who roughly handled a +bird with a broken wing? All boys possess this quality of Gentleness, +because it is founded on sympathy with the sufferings of the weak. If a +small boy falls and breaks his arm, how eagerly the bigger boys come to +his assistance, and how careful they are to touch the broken limb with +all tenderness! The feeling of sympathy makes them gentle. No boy is +without this God-given faculty. It is there to begin with, and if a boy +wish to become a gentleman he must cultivate it, as he does his other +powers. It is a faculty soon lost if we neglect it; it is easy to learn +to be rough and loud-mouthed, and roughness soon leads to cruelty. The +true gentleman practises Gentleness towards the weak at all times, +whether they are suffering or not. The boy should learn it in his own +home; that is the best and easiest place to learn it. It is easy to be +gentle with one's mother; it is a bad-hearted boy who suffers himself to +be rough in his speech, or rude in his manner, to her. The same rule of +Gentleness should be steadily observed towards his sisters and younger +and weaker brothers. He who has thus practised gentleness in his home +will go out into the world a character actually trained to be gentle to +those weaker than himself, and to be sympathetic towards the sorrows and +sufferings of the unfortunate. + +The third mark of a gentleman is Generosity. By this I do not mean +open-handedness about money. Lavish liberality may be only another name +for careless imprudence. By Generosity is meant the utter absence of +selfishness. Aristotle called his true gentleman the magnanimous man. +Generosity is large-heartedness. It involves the absence of all thought +of self, and a never-failing consideration for the feelings of others. +Such a man was Sir James Outram. When the English army was marching to +the relief of Lucknow, Sir James, who was the senior officer, allowed +Havelock to take command, and to win the glory of the siege, and himself +went in a subordinate position. Of him it was said that he was "one of +the bravest, and yet gentlest, of men; respectful and reverent to women, +tender to children, helpful to the weak, stern to the corrupt, honest as +day, and pure as virtue." When Edward the Black Prince took the French +king and his son prisoners at the battle of Poictiers, he gave a banquet +for them in the evening, and he insisted on waiting upon and serving +them at the table. At the battle of Dettingen a squadron of French +cavalry charged an English regiment, and the two leaders found +themselves opposed to each other. The young French officer raised his +sword to attack his opponent, when he saw that he had only one arm, with +which he held his bridle. Instead of cutting him down, the Frenchman +saluted him with his sword, and passed on. + +The fourth mark of a gentleman is Modesty about his actions and +opinions. Nothing more surely marks his opposite in society than +self-assertiveness and bragging. The true gentleman never boasts of what +he has done. On the other hand, he does not seek to belittle a good +action for which he is praised. If such an action comes to general +notice, he accepts the praise justly offered, and then seeks by +silence, or by changing the topic of conversation, to withdraw +particular notice from himself. He is content to do and let others talk. +Sir Isaac Newton was one of the most modest men. He kept secret for a +long time some of his greatest discoveries for fear of the notoriety +they would bring him. He did not publish his marvellous discoveries of +the Binomial Theorem and the Law of Gravitation for years, and when he +published his solution of the theory of the moon's rotation round the +earth he forbade the publisher to insert his name. The true gentleman is +modest about his opinions. Comparatively few have deeds to boast about; +but all have _opinions_ to advance. We should guard against asserting +them too strongly, or attempting to force them down people's throats. If +an opinion is true or valuable, it is sure to make its own way by reason +of its own force; it is only weakened by the loud assertion of the man +of rude manner and coarse nature. It is a wise saying of the great +apostle: "Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think." +The old Hebrew poet thought the highest type of gentleman him "that +walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in +his heart." + + + + +No. XXI. + +COURTESY + ++Courtesy is kindness of heart, combined with good manners. It is the +special mark of a gentleman, particularly in his treatment of those in a +humbler position than himself.+ + + +One of the most famous schools in England, founded by William of +Wykeham, in the reign of Henry III., has for its motto the words, +"Manners maketh the man." Though this does not express the whole truth, +it is, nevertheless, undoubtedly true that many a man owes his success +in life to his good manners. Two boys leaving school desire to enter a +bank. One is a boy of very pleasing manners; the other, though, perhaps, +possessing greater ability, is unpolished in appearance, and gruff in +manner. If the bank manager has reason to believe them fairly equal in +knowledge and ability, he will take the pleasant-mannered youth in +preference to the other, because he believes in securing a clerk who +will be civil to customers, and obliging to all with whom he comes in +contact. It is worth while, then, to cultivate politeness in speech and +manner. A famous woman once said: "Civility costs nothing, and buys +everything." + +We must be careful to distinguish between Politeness and Courtesy. Any +one can learn certain rules of Politeness, even though he be coarse at +heart. Some men put on Politeness with their evening coats, but are the +reverse of polite in their everyday garb. To such men Politeness is like +varnish or veneer; scratch them on the surface, or merely rub them the +wrong way, and their real nature comes out. + +Politeness is an excellent thing when it is joined to genuine kindness +of heart. It then becomes Courtesy. Courtesy is Kindness and Politeness +joined together and exhibited at all times to all persons, no matter +what their rank in life. The man who is kind to his servant, and speaks +politely to him at one time, and at another gets into a furious temper +and abuses him, has not learned Courtesy. Courtesy implies a certain +gentleness in dealing with other people. It is a mistake to think that +Manliness and Gentleness do not go together. The strongest and most +manly men are noted for their quietness of disposition. Not only are +they not self-assertive, but they are actually gentle to the weak. + +Courtesy comes easily to some people; to others it is difficult. Some +persons are naturally open and unreserved in their nature; others are +reserved and shy, and it is hard to get at them. Boys and young men +often suffer far more than people think on account of shyness, which +keeps them from being openly friendly with people whom they do not know +well. This shyness is sometimes put down to bad temper, or moroseness, +or sometimes even to a desire to be rude. How earnestly should the boy +or young man strive to get rid of a failing which may be the unfortunate +cause of doing him so much harm in the eyes of others! + +Bacon says: "If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows +he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off +from other lands, but a continent that joins to them." If you wish to be +known as a courteous man, begin at once to do little acts of kindness to +others. Acts of kindness form the basis of true Courtesy. Lord +Chesterfield said: "The desire to please is, at least, half the art of +doing it." If we wish to learn how to get a reputation for Courtesy, we +must make an effort to do what others like, though we may not care about +it ourselves. Many a man owes his success in life to doing pleasant +things in a pleasant way. The headmaster of one of the greatest public +schools in England said: "Courtesy begets Courtesy; it is a passport to +popularity. The way in which things are done is often more important +than the things themselves." Another writer has said: "A good deed is +never lost. He who sows Courtesy reaps friendship." + +To be Courteous, we must not only do kindnesses; we must do them in a +pleasing manner. "Manner will do everything. Give a young fellow on +setting out in life a good manner, and he will want neither meat, drink, +nor clothes. 'I like that lad,' some one says, 'he has such nice +off-hand manners.'" "Sir Walter Raleigh was every inch a man, a brave +soldier, a brilliant courtier, and yet a mirror of Courtesy. Nobody +would accuse Sir Philip Sidney of having been deficient in manliness, +yet his fine manners were proverbial. It is the Courtesy of Bayard, the +knight, _sans peur et sans reproche_, which has immortalized him quite +as much as his valour." Burke said: "Manners are of more importance than +laws. Upon them, in a great measure, the laws depend. Manners are what +vex, soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, +by a constant, steady insensible operation, like that of the air we +breathe in." + +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." We should be especially courteous to servants and +those below us in the world. A great man returned the salute of a negro +who had bowed to him. Some one told him that what he had done was very +unusual. "Perhaps so," said he, "but I would not be outdone in good +manners by a negro." + +The truly courteous man is never caught napping. He is courteous not +only in crowds, where every one can see him, or in social life, among +his equals; but also in little things, at odd moments, when no one of +importance is by, and to the poor and ignorant. He is courteous, too, in +his own home. That, perhaps, is the final and hardest test of all. It is +easy to be polite when we are out at a party of friends, though even +there it is sometimes hard to show real Courtesy. In giving advice to +young men, Thackeray said: "Ah, my dear fellow, take this counsel: +Always dance with the old ladies, always dance with the governesses!" He +meant: show your gentlehood by being kind to those who have not many +friends. But it is hard to be Courteous in the home when things do not +please us, and we are out with the world. Yet it is there we must begin +to practise Courtesy. It is there we must learn that kindness, and +cheerfulness, and good manners which will earn for us the epitaph of +Tennyson's friend: + + + "And thus he bore without abuse + The grand old name of gentleman." + + + + +No. XXII. + +REPENTANCE + ++We are often sorry when we do wrong; this is the first step towards +Repentance; but Repentance itself is more than being sorry; it is +ceasing to do wrong, and beginning to do right.+ + + +Man differs from the most intelligent of the lower animals in having a +moral nature, called a soul; that is, he is responsible for his actions. +One great evidence of this is to be found in the fact that, after he has +done evil, his conscience generally reproaches him sharply, and he feels +remorse, which is the keen pain brought about by the memory of +wrongdoing. But we must not mistake this pain of remorse for Repentance. +It should be the beginning of Repentance; but Repentance itself must go +much further than that. + +Two men with evil-looking faces were seen to enter a great church in +Rome one day, where, in little chapels attached to the church, people +were making confession of their sins to the priests, and obtaining +absolution from them. These two men looked as though something very +serious was weighing on their minds, as they searched for a priest to +whom to confess. A short time after they had found one, they were again +seen, coming down the aisle of the church, laughing together, and +looking as jolly as possible. Next day they were arrested for attacking +a traveller on the highway and almost murdering him. Probably those two +men felt the pangs of remorse when they were in the church seeking to +confess their sins. But there was no Repentance, because they went back +at once to their evil courses. + +A sick man was said by his doctor to be dying. His clergyman came to see +him, and begged him to be reconciled to a neighbour with whom he had had +a serious quarrel. At last he consented, and when the neighbour was +brought to his bedside they had a short, friendly conversation, and +shook hands. But as the neighbour was leaving the room, the sick man +called out: "_But you must remember this stands for nothing if I get +better again._" There was no real Repentance in the sick man's heart. + +A man who had been living a very careless and sinful life went to hear a +great man preach. The sermon had such an effect upon him that his +conscience became very uneasy, and he felt keen remorse for the evil of +his life, and determined to stop it all and begin again in a different +way. He first went to see a neighbour who scoffed at religious things, +and who, the moment he went in, began to ask him about the great +preacher, and to make fun of him for paying much attention to what was +"absurd, and all a lie." The man replied: "Never mind the preacher just +now; I want to tell you about a very serious matter. Four years ago you +lost two fine sheep out of your flock, and though you searched +everywhere you could not find them. Those sheep came into my pasture +field, and I caught them, and marked my brand on top of yours, and so +they were not discovered. But I have now come to tell you of the matter, +and to put myself in your hands. You can, if you like, have me arrested, +or I will pay you whatever you ask." The neighbour was astonished, but +at last said he would take the value of the sheep, with interest on the +money from the time they were stolen. The man paid this down, and then +doubled the amount. After he had gone his neighbour began to think that +the sort of religion which made a man confess a sin long past, and which +no one could ever find out, must have some reality about it, and he +scoffed no more. That is a case of genuine Repentance. + +Happy is the man who repents while there is yet the opportunity to undo, +to some extent, the evil he has done. Some men repent when it is too +late to undo the mischief. Henry II., King of England, rode from London +to Canterbury in the night, and when he came to the gates he dismounted, +and walked barefooted to the shrine of the martyr. He there made public +confession of his sin, and was scourged with a knotted cord before the +people, though he was then king. Imagine the Emperor of Germany being +publicly scourged! Though Henry repented, he could not bring Becket back +to life again. Henry Ward Beecher told the story of a young man who came +to Indianapolis, when Mr. Beecher was minister there, on his way to +settle in the west. While there he was robbed in a gambling saloon of +fifteen hundred dollars, all that he had. It led to his suicide. "I know +the man who committed the foul deed; he used to walk up and down the +street. Now, suppose this man should repent? Can he ever call back that +suicide? Can he ever wipe off the taint and disgrace that he has brought +on the escutcheon of that young man's family?" + +Everybody has need of practising Repentance, because no one can live a +perfect life. Goldsmith said: "Our greatest glory consists not in never +falling, but in rising every time we fall." If we rise again every time +we fall, there is but little danger that we ever fall so low that we +cannot rise at all, or of doing that which we cannot, to some extent, +put right. + + + "Confess yourself to Heaven; + Repent what's past, avoid what is to come." + + +It is unwise to put off Repentance. It should be done now. The +opportunity may slip away from us altogether. As a wise man once said: +"I know that a man, going--swept down that great Niagara--if his little +skiff be driven near to one shore, he can make one great bound and reach +the solid ground--I know _he may be saved_ from destruction: but it is +an awful risk to run." + +We can best learn the value of Repentance by practising it in little +things. If a boy is guilty of rudeness to any one, and especially to a +lady, he should go at once and, in a manly way, acknowledge it. The fact +that he has begged her pardon will keep him from committing the same +offence again. If we practise Repentance in the small matters of daily +life, it will be easier for us to practise it in things of great and +serious moment. + + + + +No. XXIII. + +CHARACTER + ++The word Character comes from a Greek word meaning to cut, or engrave. +By Character we mean the peculiar qualities impressed by Nature or Habit +on a person; in other words, what he really is.+ + + +Character is the crown of life; to the evil it is a crown of infamy; to +the good, a crown of glory. Some scientists believe that all the facts +of knowledge which we acquire are stamped upon the brain, making many +grooves and creases upon its surface. Our actions and thoughts and words +and habits being impressed upon the soul form its Character. The +formation of good Character takes many years, and is a very gradual +process; but every action has its part in the final result, and every +habit binds the parts together. Bad Character is developed in the same +way as good character; but the process is easy and rapid. A boy begins +by stealing something; soon he is led on to lie about it. One lie leads +to another, and the success of the bad experiment leads to another theft +and more lying. Bad companions soon gather round him, and the sprouting +plant of evil grows like a weed. Ere long it has fastened its thousand +roots in the depths of his soul. + +Gibbon said: "Every man has two educations--one which he receives from +others, and one, more important, which he gives himself." In the +business world, the men of highest reputation value their Character +above everything else, because no one can take it from them, unless they +deliberately yield it. It is valued highly, because it has been earned +by never-wavering effort through long years. They have educated +themselves by unceasing practice to put Truth and Honour, Chastity and +Courtesy, Industry and Temperance, Self-Reliance and Self-Control, +Modesty and Charity, Justice and Benevolence above Cleverness and Love +of Gain, which so often make a man unscrupulous in dealing with his +fellows. + +In the studies which have gone before, we have seen what these qualities +mean. They go to make up Character. But Character cannot be produced by +learning lessons about it in books. Character is the education which a +man gives himself. In reading the lives of great men, we see very +clearly that they began to acquire the qualities which afterwards +distinguished them when they were boys. A great writer has said that +Conduct is three-fourths of life. If we wish to be distinguished for +Character, we must begin to practise those things which produce it while +we are schoolboys. + +The grand thing about Character is that it is independent of +circumstances. The man who values Honour above all things cannot be put +into any position where there is any real danger of losing it. After the +great battle of Assaye, the native prince sent his prime minister to the +Duke of Wellington to find out privately what territory and other +advantages would be secured to his master in the treaty with the Indian +nabobs. They offered Wellington five hundred thousand dollars for the +secret information. The great general looked at him quietly for a few +seconds, and then said: "It appears, then, that you are capable of +keeping a secret." "Yes, certainly," replied the minister. "_Then, so am +I_," said Wellington, smiling, and bowed him out of the room. Take +another instance, in humble life. Once, when the Adige was in flood, the +bridge of Verona was carried away, only the centre arch standing. On +this was a house whose inmates called loudly for help, as this arch was +slowly giving way. A nobleman called out, "I will give a hundred French +louis to any one who will go to the rescue." A young peasant seized a +boat, managed with great difficulty to reach the pier, and, at the risk +of his life, rescued the family just in time. When they reached the +shore, the count handed the promised money to the young man. "No," said +he, "I do not sell my life; give the money to these poor people, who +need it." + +The man of noble Character values, above all other things, these: Truth, +personal Honour, Moral Courage, Unselfishness, the Voice of Conscience. +Chaucer, the father of English poetry, said: + + + "Truth is the highest thing that man may keep." + + +In the days of chivalry, the noble-hearted soldier sang to her who wept +at his going: + + + "I could not love thee, dear, so much, + Loved I not honour more." + + +Of Courage, Addison said: + + + "Unbounded courage and compassion joined, + Tempting each other in the victor's mind, + Alternately proclaim him good and great, + And make the hero and the man complete." + + +Of Selfishness, Shelley said: + + + "How vainly seek + The selfish for that happiness denied + To aught but virtue!" + + +The voice of Conscience is the voice of God, That voice was never yet +disregarded without suffering; to reject Conscience is to incur +retribution. The wise man cultivates his Conscience; that is, he +listens for its warnings and suggestions, and yields his desires at its +call. The man of Character seeks its advice at every important movement +of his life. + +It is impossible to build up a noble Character without a model. Before +beginning to erect a magnificent building, the architect must provide a +plan for the workman to follow. The shipbuilder requires a model for the +construction of a beautiful racing yacht. Before making a new and +intricate machine, the craftsman must have a working model. In the +building of Character, the working model is Jesus of Nazareth. He is the +example to the human race of all the traits of true manliness which men +admire. He is the model of willing Obedience, of undaunted Courage, of +absolute Truthfulness, of Generosity, of Gentleness to the weak and +suffering. He is the model of all the virtues. An old poet said of +Jesus, with the greatest reverence, that He was + + + "The first true gentleman that ever lived." + + +He who sincerely wishes to build up his life into noble Character will +be helped by nothing so much as by the study of the actions and words of +Jesus, the model of nobleness to all men, in all ages, since He came +into the world. + + + + +No. XXIV. + +CONSCIENCE + ++Conscience is that faculty of the mind which teaches us to distinguish +between right and wrong. It often warns us when we are about to do +wrong, and reproaches us for the wrong we have done.+ + + +A great man once said that when he was a small boy he was walking one +day by the side of a pond, when he saw a turtle creeping out of the +water. He had never yet killed anything, and he felt a great temptation +to kill it with his stick, when some one seemed to whisper to him: "It +is wrong." He went home and asked his mother what it was. She told him +that men called it Conscience; but she called it the voice of God, +speaking in his heart. He said that he often afterwards tried to listen +for the voice, and it kept him from much wrong that he would otherwise +have done. + +Conscience has been compared to the needle in the sailor's compass; by +its means the ship is kept upon her proper course. If we consult +Conscience, we cannot go far astray. A boy is about to steal some money +for the first time. Just as his hand is upon it, he fancies he hears +steps approaching. He hastily drops the money, and turns away with a +beating heart. But he finds he is mistaken, and, perhaps, thinks it was +only imagination. He is wrong; the beating heart and the imaginary +noises are Conscience warning him that he is about to do wrong. If he is +an unthinking boy, he merely laughs at his fears, and next day goes back +again. This time he _listens for the sound of steps_, but he does not +hear them. The fact that he listened shows that Conscience has been at +him again; but this time the warning is fainter, and he commits the +theft. It is possible to stifle Conscience altogether. + +According to an Eastern tale, a great magician presented his prince with +a ring of great value. Its value did not consist in the precious stones +it contained, but in a peculiar property of the metal. Whenever the +prince had a bad or lustful thought, or meditated a bad action, or was +about to say a wicked, or cruel, or unjust thing, the ring contracted, +and the pain caused by the pressure on the finger warned him against the +evil. The poorest person may possess and wear such a ring as that, for +the ring of the fable is just that Conscience which is the voice of God +in our hearts. + +When Macbeth was on his way to murder King Duncan, he had a frightful +vision of what he was about to do, and he saw an imaginary dagger +beckoning him the way that he was going; the handle was towards his +hand, and had gouts of blood upon it. That was Conscience calling upon +him to stop before it was too late. Conscience sometimes speaks to us +while we are actually doing evil. + +While Conscience speaks to us about what are, for us, great wrongs, it +seldom does so about little wrongs until they are over and passed away. +A boy says: "I do many things of which I am ashamed, and which I would +not have done had Conscience warned me." That shows us very plainly that +Conscience is a thing we must cultivate if it is to be of any real +service to us in the way of preventing us from the doing of evil. A. +says to B.: "I am going across to the corner store for some candy. If +that master over there should see me, you tell him I have just gone over +the fence after something." B. thinks for a moment, and says: "Can't do +it; it's not straight." A. then asks C., who agrees to do it. B. +consults Conscience; C. does not. If they go on thus, in a few years B. +will meet some great temptation and overcome it; C. will meet some great +temptation, and fall under it. + +If we do not form the habit of looking to Conscience for guidance, the +time will come when its voice will be heard reproaching us for the evil +that we have done, and that we can never undo. So common is it for men +to think of Conscience only when the harm is done that it has been +called "the awful compulsion to think." Half the grief that people +suffer is through their own sins in the past, and it is Conscience +pricking them that causes the grief. Sometimes this grief is so terrible +that men, and even women, are led to take their own lives. He who +listens to Conscience will never leave this world with the red blot of +"suicide" staining his character. + +Dr. Johnson said: "Conscience is the sentinel of virtue." The wise +captain never lets his men sleep on the field without posting one or +more sentinels. The young man going out into the world is going on to +the battlefield of his life, and to be caught napping is to fall into +the enemy's hands. He needs all his forces, and, above all, the +sentinel, Conscience, to keep guard when the enemy is lying in ambush, +and danger seems far away. St. Paul tells us that if we wish to war a +good warfare we must have two things, "Faith, and a good Conscience." + +"No whip cuts so sharply as the lash of Conscience." + +"The voice of Conscience is so delicate that it is easy to stifle it; +but it is also so clear that it is impossible to mistake it." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Short Studies in Ethics, by John Ormsby Miller + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43439 *** |