A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his
will, he draws his portrait to the eye of his companions by every
word. Every opinion reacts on him who utters it. It is a thread-ball
thrown at a mark, but the other end remains in the thrower's bag. Or
rather, it is a harpoon thrown at the whale, unwinding, as it flies, a
coil of cord in the boat; and if the harpoon is not good, or not well
thrown, it will go nigh to cut the steersman in twain or to sink the
boat.
You cannot do wrong without suffering wrong. "No man had ever a point
of pride that was not injurious to him," said Burke. The exclusive in
fashionable life does not see that he excludes himself from enjoyment,
in the attempt to appropriate it. The exclusionist in religion does
not see that he shuts the door of heaven on himself, in striving to
shut out others. Treat men as pawns and ninepins, and you shall suffer
as well as they. If you leave out their heart, you shall lose your
own. The senses would make things of all persons; of women, of
children, of the poor. The vulgar proverb "I will get it from his
purse or get it from his skin," is sound philosophy.
All infractions of love and equity in our social relations are
speedily punished. They are punished by fear. Whilst I stand in simple
relations to my fellow-man, I have no displeasure in meeting him. We
meet as water meets water, or as two currents of air mix,--with
perfect diffusion and interpenetration of nature. But as soon as there
is any departure from simplicity, and attempt at halfness, or good for
me that is not good for him, my neighbor feels the wrong; he shrinks
from me as far as I have shrunk from him; his eyes no longer seek
mine; there is war between us; there is hate in him and fear in me.
All the old abuses in society, universal and particular, all unjust
accumulations of property and power, are avenged in the same manner.
Fear is an instructor of great sagacity, and the herald of all
revolutions. One thing he teaches,--that there is rottenness where he
appears. He is a carrion crow; and though you see not well what he
hovers for, there is death somewhere. Our property is timid, our laws
are timid, our cultivated classes are timid. Fear for ages has boded
and mowed and gibbered over government and property. That obscene
bird is not there for nothing. He indicates great wrongs which must be
revised.
Of the like nature is that expectation of change which instantly
follows the suspension of our voluntary activity. The terror of
cloudless noon, the emerald of Polycrates, the awe of prosperity, the
instinct which leads every generous soul to impose on itself tasks of
a noble asceticism and vicarious virtue, are the tremblings of the
balance of justice through the heart and mind of man.
Experienced men of the world know very well that it is best to pay
scot and lot as they go along, and that a man often pays dear for a
small frugality. The borrower runs in his own debt. Has a man gained
anything who has received a hundred favors and rendered none? Has he
gained by borrowing, through indolence or cunning, his neighbor's
wares, or horses, or money? There arises on the deed the instant
acknowledgment of benefit on the one part and of debt on the other;
that is, of superiority and inferiority. The transaction remains in
the memory of himself and his neighbor, and every new transaction
alters according to its nature their relation to each other. He may
soon come to see that he had better have broken his own bones than to
have ridden in his neighbor's coach, and that "the highest price he
can pay for a thing is to ask for it."
A wise man will extend this lesson to all parts of life, and know that
it is the part of prudence to face every claimant and pay every just
demand on your time, your talents, or your heart. Always pay; for
first or last you must pay your entire debt. Persons and events may
stand for a time between you and justice, but it is only a
postponement. You must pay at last your own debt. If you are wise, you
will dread a prosperity which only loads you with more. Benefit is the
end of nature. But for every benefit which you receive, a tax is
levied. He is great who confers the most benefits. He is base--and
that is the one base thing in the universe--to receive favors and
render none. In the order of nature we cannot render benefits to those
from whom we receive them, or only seldom. But the benefit we receive
must be rendered again, line for line, deed for deed, cent for cent,
to somebody. Beware of too much good staying in your hand. It will
fast corrupt and worm worms. Pay it away quickly in some sort.