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.