CIFT OSf A. F. Morrison
THE USE OF LIFE
THE USE OF LIFE
BY
y-ry, J&An L<JobQ<^kf J*J THE RIGHT HON.
SIK JOHN LUBBOCK, BAKT., M.P
F.R.S., D.C.L., LL.D.
. , , .
MACMILLAN AND CO.
AND LONDON 1895
v4W rights reserved
GIFT OF*
COPYRIGHT, 1894, BY MACMILLAN AND CO.
Set up and electrotyped September, 1894. Reprinted January, 1895.
XnrfcrotitJ ^rrss :
J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith. Boston, Mass., U.S.A.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I THE GREAT QUESTION ....
CHAPTER II TACT 23
CHAPTER HI ON MONEY MATTERS 41
CHAPTER IV RECREATION . . 62
CHAPTER V HEALTH . 78
CHAPTER VI NATIONAL EDUCATION . . ... 94
M92347
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER VH
PAGE
SELF-EDUCATION Ill
CHAPTER VIII ON LIBRARIES ... . . . . 127
CHAPTER IX ON READING . . . . . . . .139
CHAPTER X PATRIOTISM . . . 150
CHAPTER XI CITIZENSHIP . . . . . . . . 168
CHAPTER XII SOCIAL LIFE 188
CHAPTER XIII INDUSTRY 209
CHAPTER XIV FAITH 228
CONTENTS Vll
CHAPTER XV
PAGE
241
HOPE . . «
CHAPTER XVI CHARITY . ... . , • « • • 253
CHAPTER XVII CHARACTER . . 264
CHAPTER XVIII ON PEACE AND HAPPINESS 281
CHAPTER XIX RELIGION 297
CHAPTER I
THE GREAT QUESTION
THE most important thing to learn in life, is how to live. There is nothing men are so anxious to keep as life, and nothing they take so little pains to keep well.
This is no simple matter. " Life," said Hippocrates, at the commencement of his medical Aphorisms, " Life is short, Art is long, Opportunity fleeting, Experiment un- certain, and Judgment difficult."
Happiness and success in life do not de- pend on our circumstances, but on ourselves. "More men have ruined themselves than have ever been destroyed by others : more houses and cities have perished at the hands of man, than storms or earthquakes have ever de- stroyed." There are two sorts of ruin; one is the work of time, the other of men.
2 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
Of , all, irtuiofi/ftitie ruin of Man is the sad-
de^tj, (<ajad, -a, Man's worst enemy, as Seneca saidi, is iKe one, m ihe breast. " Many men/' says La Bruyere, "spend much of their time in making the rest miserable." In too many cases "lusty blood in youth hath attempted those things which akyng bones repented in age," l for " what is past and done, Clotho cannot weave again, nor Atropos recall." 2 Men love themselves, not wisely but too well.
I am sometimes accused of being opti- mistic. But I have never ignored or denied the troubles and sorrows of life : I have never said that men are happy, only that they might be ; that if they are not so, the fault is generally their own : that most of us throw away more happiness than we enjoy. This makes it all the more melancholy.
" For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these : it might have been." 3
In many cases what we call evil is good misapplied, or carried to excess. A wheel, or
1 Lilly. 2 Lucian. 3 Whittier.
I THE GREAT QUESTION 3
even a cog, out of place throws the whole machinery out of gear, and if we place our- selves out of harmony with the constitution of the universe we must expect to suffer ac- cordingly. Courage in excess becomes fool- hardiness, affection weakness, thrift avarice. It is proverbial that what is one man's meat is another man's poison. No one has ever been able to show that any change in the laws of Nature would be for the better. A man falls and breaks his leg, but no change in the law of gravity would be an improvement.
The Persians^ attributed happiness to Or- muzd, the Spirit of Good, and misfortune to Ahriman, the Demon of Evil. But in reality we bring the troubles of life on ourselves by our own errors — errors in both senses, by doing what we know all the time to be wrong; but also, and perhaps almost as much, by our mistakes. So far as the first class of errors are concerned, we have implanted in us an infallible guide. If we do wrong it is with our eyes open ; for if they are not open, un- less indeed we have wilfully shut them, we may act unwisely, but it is not sin.
4 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
As regards the second class of errors, we must trust to reason ; to that of parents, of elders, of friends : to our education and to ourselves. Indeed our education is part of ourselves ; we have all at any rate one pupil whom we must teach and educate.
What we teach ourselves, becomes much more a part of our being than what we learn from others. Education does not end when we leave school ; it has indeed scarcely begun. It goes on through life. " How well it would be," said Seneca, " if men would but exercise their brains, as they do their bodies, and take as much pains for virtue as they do for pleasure."
Some races are indeed fatalists. Every- thing in their view is ordained, and what will happen must happen, whether they will or no. Man they regard as an automaton, the mere plaything of a superior power. The first point then to be considered is whether there is or is not a Science of Life. Can we steer our ship over the Ocean of Time, or are we condemned to drift ? " Man is man, and master of his fate," or if he is not, the fault
I THE GREAT QUESTION 5
lies at his own door. " What you wish to be, that you are ; for such is the force of our will, joined to the Supreme, that whatever we wish to be, seriously, and with a true inten- tion, that we become." l
If then we have this power over our destiny it becomes of the utmost importance to ask our- selves what we wish to be, and how we can make the most of the rich estate of Life. Some men have a purpose in life, and some have none . Our first object should be to make the most and best of ourselves. " The aim of every man," said Humboldt, shall be to secure " the highest and most harmonious development of his powers to a complete and consistent whole ; " to quote Jean Paul Richter again, " to make as much out of oneself as could be made out of the stuff." We must not, however, attempt this merely with a selfish object, or we are fore- doomed to failure. " No man's private fort- une," as Bacon said, " can be an end any way worthy of his existence." The best and great- est minds — Plato and Aristotle, Buddha and St. Paul — would never have been content
1 Jean Paul Richter.
6 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
to perfect themselves merely for them- selves.
I will assume then that we are to make the best of ourselves for the sake of others ; and let me at once point out what an interesting task we have in that case set before us. The well-known Greek maxim yv&Qi veavrov points to the importance as well as the difficulty of knowing ourselves. Montaigne says in his quaint way, " Je n'ai vue monstre ou miracle au monde plus expres que moi mesme ; " and Sir T. Browne, whose life was as little event- ful or exciting as a life could well be, assures us that to himself it seemed " a miracle of thirty years which to relate were not history but a piece of poetry, and would sound like a fable."
To offer advice has proved a somewhat thankless task from the days of Rehoboam to those of Lord Chesterfield ; nor do I forget the sad fate of the New Zealand Convert of whom his chief told the missionary that " he gave us so much advice that at last we put him to death." Yet those who will not ac- cept " counsel at first hand cheap, will buy re-
i THE GREAT QUESTION 7
pentance at second hand dear." My object then is to make some suggestions, in their own interest, to those who wish to be, and to do, something ; to make the most of them- selves and of their lives.
It is sad, indeed, to see how man wastes his opportunities. How many could be made happy, with the blessings which are recklessly wasted or thrown away !
Take care that your pleasures are real and not imaginary. We do many things because they are called pleasure, which we should hate if they went by any other name. Many people think they are having pleasure, merely because they are doing nothing useful. Others seem to use the word as if it applied only to the senses, while, on the contrary, the pleas- ures of the mind are both more exquisite and more lasting.
We neglect, or recklessly injure, the only body we have, and on the health of which that of the mind so greatly depends ; we do not derive half the enjoyment we might from works of Art ; I wonder what proportion of
i Lilly.
8 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
our people in London have ever been to the National Gallery ? we do not train ourselves to appreciate the interests of Science ; how many have been to the British Museum ? or have trained themselves to appreciate it ; we do not enjoy the beauties of the Earth on which we live, or of the Sky over our heads ; we make perhaps more use of music, though much less than we might ; we boast that, while Animals have instinct only, Man is a reasoning Being, and yet how little our boasted intellect has added to the happiness of Mankind. It might even be doubted, it has indeed been questioned by Cynics, whether, on the whole, the possession of a mind has not been a " damnosa hereditas," a source of suffering rather than of enjoyment. Animals do not distress themselves, and we do. " Man disquieteth himself in a vain shadow." We torment ourselves with doubts and fears, cares and anxieties. Mystery encompasseth us on all sides, but we must not be impatient at it.
Yet though we need riot be anxious, we must be on our guard. We must be watch-
i THE GREAT QUESTION 9
ful even in matters where we fancy ourselves least liable to err. " There is, I believe," says Lord Chesterfield, "more judgment re- quired for the proper conduct of our virtues, than for avoiding their opposite vices. Vice in its true light is so deformed, that it shocks us at first sight, and would hardly ever seduce us if it did not, at first, wear the mask of some virtue." We have all met persons, who, with much that is good, have allowed themselves to be seduced into uncharitableness and hardness of heart. Lord Palmerston once brought on himself some theological criticism, by asserting that all children were born good, but at any rate, it really takes some trouble before any one becomes altogether wicked.
" In the vicious ways of the world, it merci- fully f alleth out that we become not extempore wicked, but it taketh some time and pains to undo ourselves. We fall not from virtue, like Vulcan from heaven, in a day." l
And if we turn from the individual to the race, is not the neglect of our advantages even more startling? Mankind may still confess
1 Sir T. Browne.
10 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
with Newton, that we are but as children play- ing on the seashore, and gathering here and there a prettier shell or a more delicate sea- weed than usual, while the great ocean of truth lies all undiscovered before us. There is no single substance, the full uses and prop- erties of which are yet known to us : we labour from morning to night ; and yet if we could but avail ourselves more fully of the properties of matter and the forces of nature, it is probable that an hour or two would fully supply all our bodily and reasonable wants, and leave us ample time for the cultivation of the mind and the affections. Steam is not even yet fully utilised : the uses of electricity were unknown in our childhood, and we are only now beginning to understand them ; the force of rivers still runs in the main to waste. What terrible sufferings might have been avoided if Anaesthetics had been sooner dis- covered ! It would require a volume to com- plete the illustrations which might be given. No one can doubt that a thousand other dis- coveries lie before us, even perhaps under our very eyes. Is it not then astonishing that the
i THE GREAT QUESTION 11
so-called Christian nations, waste, and worse than waste, millions of money to ruin one another, and fight like beasts for territory, " while the great ocean of truth lies undis- covered before them " ? 1
In the last generation we were content to let- many of our children grow up without know- ing how to read and write. Even now, we hear some persons deprecate " over-education," though, to do them justice, what in most cases they really mean, is an education out of rela- tion to the daily life. Some there still are, who grudge the expense, not perceiving that Ignorance costs more than Education. But if our children have now nearly all some educa- tion, it may well be doubted, though I will not here enter into the question, whether we have yet adopted the most suitable system. I will only say that we seem to have unduly neg- lected moral education in our schools, and one result has been a very common theory, that if you break some of the commandments you will no doubt be doing very wrong, and will probably make others miserable, but you will,
1 Newton.
12 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
at least in this life, add to your own happiness and be yourself the better off : that self-in- dulgence, avarice, intemperance, idleness, and other " pleasant vices " may be unjustifiable, but would be for one's own benefit though at the expense of others ; that a life of ease and pleasure is what every one, if he thought only of himself, would naturally desire ; and that to be good and virtuous, however right and noble, involves much self-denial even of inno- cent amusements, and taken as a whole, is a life of self-sacrifice.
" Alas ! what boots it with incessant care To tend the homely slighted shepherd's trade, And strictly meditate the thankless muse ? Were it not better done, as others use, To sport with Amaryllis in the shade, Or with the tangles of Neaera's hair ? " 1
The very reverse is the truth. So far from its being the privilege of vice to be without restraint and confinement, the evil man is, on the contrary, a slave to the worst of masters, — his own passions.
So, again, some young men have an idea
1 Milton.
i THE GREAT QUESTION 13
that there is something u manly" in vice. But any weak fool can be vicious. To be virtuous you must be a man ; to be virtuous is to be truly free ; vice is the real slavery. A particular course of conduct does not de- grade because it is wrong ; it is wrong because it degrades. If by some extraordinary sub- version of morals, wrong became right, it would still be fatal to happiness and peace of mind.
I will not quote any theologian in support of the thesis that sin and sorrow are insepa- rable, but on such a point will rather rely on the evidence of a consummate man of the world, Lord Chesterfield, who in one of his letters to his son after some other wise advice, concludes by saying, " Such are the rewards that always crown virtue, and such the char- acters that you should imitate, if you would be a great and good man, which is the only way to be a happy one."
Descartes embodied his rules for practical life in four maxims : one to submit himself to the laws and religion in which he was brought up ; another, to act on all those occasions
14 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
which call for action promptly and according to the best of his judgment, and to abide the result without repining; the third, to seek happiness in limiting the desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them ; while the last is to make the search after truth the business of his life.
Lilly, in his once very popular Euphues, thus sums up his counsel : "Go to bed with the Lam.be, and rise with the Larke ; be merry, but with modesty ; be sober, but not too sullen ; be valiant, but not too venturous; let your attire be comely ; your diet wholesome, but not excessive ; thy pastime as the word im- porteth, to pass the time in honest recreation ; mistrust no man without cause, neither be credulous without proof ; be not light to fol- low every man's opinion, neither obstinate to stand in your own conceits; serve God, fear God, love God, and God will bless you, as either your hearts can wish, or your friends desire."
Nor is it only the thoughtless, the selfish, the wicked, who in the unscrupulous pursuit of what they suppose to be their own interests,
i THE GREAT QUESTION 15
make both themselves and others miserable. It must be admitted that many worthy people, and many good books, with no doubt the best intentions, fall into, what is in essence, a very similar error. They have represented a life of sin as a life of pleasure ; they have pictured virtue as self-sacrifice, austerity as religion. The Inquisition was of course an extreme case ; many of the Inquisitors were, I doubt not, excellent people, kind and even merciful in their nature, but they entirely mistook the very essence of Christianity. Even in every- day life we meet with worthy people who seem to think that whatever is pleasant must be wrong, that the true spirit of religion is crabbed, sour, and gloomy ; that the bright, sunny, radiant nature which surrounds us is an evil and not a blessing ; a temptation devised by the Spirit of Evil and not one of the greatest delights showered on us in such profusion by the Author of all Good.
Cowper in two beautiful lines has told us that
" The path of sorrow, and that path alone, Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown."
16 THE USE OF LIFE
CHAP.
It is no doubt true that we cannot go through life without sorrow. Even apart from the griefs which the limits of life bring on us all inevitably in the loss of those we love, our existence here is so complex, the world is still so young, we are as yet so far from comprehending the necessities of our own existence, the nature and properties of the substances and forces which surround us, that we must expect much sorrow and suffer- ing. But Cowper asserts that the path of sorrow, and that path "alone," leads to heaven, so that a happy life here must in- evitably involve misery hereafter. That en- tirely erroneous idea has caused much anxiety, trouble, and self-questioning to many anxious souls. Many a bright young nature has suf- fered pangs of self-reproach, and tormented itself merely on account of its own happiness, whereas it should be thankful for such a gift, and feel that it has the inestimable privilege of brightening the path of others who from sorrow or ill-health have no longer in them- selves the same well-spring of joy and sun- shine. Cowper was very far indeed from
i THE GREAT QUESTION 17
being a Puritan, yet is not his teaching tinged with the spirit of those, who, as Macaulay tells us, objected to bear-baiting, not because it caused pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators ?
Many people distress and torment them- selves about the mystery of existence. Yet " a good man and a wise man may at times be angry with the world, at times grieve for it ; but be sure no man was ever discontented with the world who did his duty in it." 1
" The riddle of the world is understood Only by him who feels that God is good." 2
There is no duty, said Seneca, " the fulfil- ment of which will not make us happier, nor any temptation for which there is no remedy." Accuse not Nature, says Milton,
" She hath done her part, do thou but thine."
We may be sure that the Creator would not have made all Nature beauty to the eye, and music to the ear, if we had not been meant to enjoy it thoroughly, and " it is almost im- possible to estimate what peace a man brings
1 Southey. 2 Whittier.
18 THE USE OF LIFE
CHAP.
to others, and what joy to himself by manag- ing himself aright." 1
If this age be, as in many respects I think it is, the most wonderful, interesting, and en- lightened the world has ever seen, that is our good fortune, not our own doing ; it is some- thing, not to be proud of, but to be thankful for.
While, however, we should be grateful, and enjoy to the full the innumerable blessings of life, we cannot expect to have no sorrows or anxieties. Life has been described by Wai- pole as "a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feel." It is indeed a tragedy at times and a comedy very often, but as a rule it is what we choose to make it. No evil, said Socrates, " can happen to a good man, either in Life or Death," and certainly the Prophets of Hope have been justified much more often than the Prophets of Evil ; but we are too apt to let years of happiness pass unnoticed, while we count every moment of sorrow or pain.
We cannot always expect to succeed ; even
1 Imitation of Christ.
i THE GREAT QUESTION 19
Nature fails at times. But "lift not up thyself with arrogance in thy health and prosperity ; nor despair of good in any adversity."
A well-known passage in the Bible tells us that " wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat : because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
But this I think is often misapplied. We are not told that the right way is more rough and painful ; only that it is narrow, and not easy to find. No doubt there is but one right road, with by-paths diverging on all sides. A ship at sea has only one true course ; all the other points of the compass would lead her away from " the haven where she would be." But it does not follow that the right course is more rough or stormy than any other.
Of course it cannot be denied that what is wrong or unwise is often very pleasant, some- times even delightful, for the moment. To
1 King Alfred's trans, of Boethius.
20 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP
do so would be absurd ; it would be to ques- tion the very existence of temptation. All I wish to show is, that in yielding to such im- pulses we are buying a momentary pleasure at the expense of future sorrow ; that we are giving up a great deal for the sake of compar- atively trivial gain ; that we are selling our birthright, like Esau, for a mess of pottage ; and " buying the merry madness of an hour, by the long penitence of after years." In fact, it is not going too far to say, and I am speaking now only of this life, that if we wish to be happy we must try to be good.
Prosperity and happiness do not by any means always go together, and many people are miserable who have, as it would seem, everything to make them happy. " Fortune can give much, but it must be the mind that makes that much enough." l
" My mind to me a Kingdom is, Such present joys therein I find." 2
"It is not," said Vauvenargues, "in every one's power to secure wealth, office, or hon- ours ; but every one may be good, generous,
i Boyle. 2 Dyer.
i THE GREAT QUESTION 21
and wise." The true wealth does not consist in what we have, but in what we are ; and the advantages which we enjoy entail corre- sponding responsibilities." The present state, says St. Chrysostom, " is merely a theatrical show, the business of man a play ; wealth and poverty, the ruler and the ruled, and such like things, are theatrical representations. But when this day shall have passed, then the theatre will be closed and the masks thrown off. Then each one shall be tried, and his works ; not each one and his wealth, not each one and his office, not each one and his dig- nity, not each one and his power, but each one and his works." Let us hope that our works will stand the test.
And what will the test be ? Not how much we have done, but how much we have tried. Not whether we have been what is called suc- cessful in life, but whether we have deserved to be so.
" How happy he is born and taught That serveth not another's will ; Whose armour is his honest thought; And simple truth his utmost skill." 1
1 Wotton.
22 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP, i
In fact, the wise and virtuous life, not the wicked and self-indulgent, will be the truly happy life, and sin is the real self-sacrifice.
" My son," says Solomon,1
" My son, forget not my law ; But let thine heart keep my commandments : For length of days, and long life, And peace, shall they add to thee."
1 Proverbs.
CHAPTER II
TACT
FOR success in life tact is more important than talent, but it is not easily acquired by those to whom it does not come naturally. Still something can be done by considering what others would probably wish.
Never lose a chance of giving pleasure. Be courteous to all. " Civility," said Lady Montague, "costs nothing and buys every- thing." It buys much, indeed, which no money will purchase. Try then to win every one you meet. "Win their hearts," said Burleigh to Queen Elizabeth, " and you have all men's hearts and purses."
Tact often succeeds where force fails. Lilly quotes the old fable of the Sun and the Wind : " It is pretily noted of a contention betweene the Winde and the Sunne, who should
23
24 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
have the victorye. A Gentleman walking abroad, the \Yinde thought to blowe off his cloake, which with great blastes and bluster- ings striuing to vnloose it, made it to stick faster to his backe, for the more the Winde encreased the closer his cloake clapt to his body : then the Sunne, shining with his hot beams, began to warm this gentleman, who waxing somewhat faint in this faire weather, did not only put off his cloake but his coate, which the Wynde perceiuing, yeelded the con- quest to the Sunne."
Always remember that men are more easily led than driven, and that in any case it is better to guide than to coerce.
" What thou wilt
Thou rather shalt enforce it with thy smile, Than hew to't with thy sword." l
It is a good rule in politics, " pas trop gouverner."
Try to win, and still more to deserve, the confidence of those with whom you are brought in contact. Many a man has owed
ii TACT 25
his influence far more to character than to ability. Sydney Smith used to say of Francis Homer, who, without holding any high office, exercised a remarkable personal influence in the Councils of the Nation, that he had the Ten Commandments stamped upon his coun- tenance.
Try to meet the wishes of others as far as you rightly and wisely can ; but do not be afraid to say "No."
Anybody can say " Yes," though it is not every one who can say " Yes " pleasantly ; but it is far more difficult to say " No." Many a man has been ruined because he could not do so. Plutarch tells us that the inhabitants of Asia Minor came to be vassals only for not having been able to pronounce one syllable, which is "No." And if in the Conduct of Life it is essential to say "No," it is scarcely less necessary to be able to say it pleasantly. We ought always to endeavour that everybody with whom we have any transactions should feel that it is a pleasure to do business with us and should wish to come again. Business is a matter of senti-
26 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
ment and feeling far more than many sup- pose ; every one likes being treated with kindness and courtesy, and a frank pleasant manner will often clench a bargain more effectually than a half per cent.
Almost any one may make himself pleas- ant if he wishes. " The desire of pleasing is at least half the art of doing it : " 1 and, on the other hand, no one will please others who does not desire to do so. If you do riot ac- quire this great gift while you are young, you will find it much more difficult after- wards. Many a man has owed his outward success in life far more to good manners than to any solid merit ; while, on the other hand, many a worthy man, with a good heart and kind intentions, makes enemies merely by the roughness of his manner. To be able to please is, moreover, itself a great pleas- ure. Try it, and you will not be disap- pointed.
Be wary and keep cool. A cool head is as necessary as a warm heart. In any negotia- tions, steadiness and coolness are invaluable ;
1 Chesterfield's Letters.
ii TACT 27
while they will often carry you in safety through times of danger and difficulty.
If you come across others less clever than you are, you have no right to look down on them. There is nothing more to be proud of in inheriting great ability, than a great estate. The only credit in either case is if they are used well. Moreover, many a man is much cleverer than he seems. It is far more easy to read books than men. In this the eyes are a great guide. " When the eyes say one thing and the tongue another, a practised man relies on the language of the first." 1
Do not trust too much to professions of extreme goodwill. Men do not fall in love with men, nor women with women, at first sight. If a comparative stranger protests and promises too much, do not place implicit confidence in what he says. If not insincere, he probably says more than he means, and perhaps wants something himself from you. Do not therefore believe that every one is a friend, merely because he professes to be so ; nor assume too lightly that any one is an enemy.
1 Emerson.
28 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
We flatter ourselves by claiming to be rational and intellectual beings, but it would be a great mistake to suppose that men are always guided by reason. We are strange inconsistent creatures, and we act quite as often, perhaps oftener, from prejudice or pas- sion. The result is that you are more likely to carry men with you by enlisting their feel- ings, than by convincing their reason. This applies, moreover, to companies of men even more than to individuals.
Argument is always a little dangerous. It often leads to coolness and misunderstand- ings. You may gain your argument and lose your friend, which is probably a bad bargain. If you must argue admit, all you can, but try and show that some point has been over- looked. Very few people know when they have had the worst of an argument, and if they do, they do not like it. Moreover, if they know they are beaten, it does not fol- low that they are convinced. Indeed it is perhaps hardly going too far to say that it is very little use trying to convince any one by argument. State your case as clearly
ii TACT 29
and concisely as possible, and if you shake his confidence in his own opinion it is as much as you can expect. It is the first step gained.
Conversation is an art in itself, and it is by no means those who have most to tell who are the best talkers ; though it is certainly going too far to say with Lord Chesterfield that "there are very few Captains of Foot who are not much better company than ever were Descartes or Sir Isaac Newton."
I will not say that it is as difficult to be a good listener as a good talker, but it is cer- tainly by no means easy, and very nearly as important. You must not receive everything that is said as a critic or a judge, but sus- pend your judgment, and try to enter into the feelings of the speaker. If you are kind and sympathetic your advice will be often sought, and you will have the satisfaction of feeling that you have been a help and com- fort to many in distress and trouble.
Do not expect too much attention when you are young. Sit, listen, and look on. Bystanders proverbially see most of the
30 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP
game; and you can notice what is going on just as well, if not better, when you are not noticed yourself. It is almost as if you possessed a cap of invisibility.
To save themselves the trouble of thinking, which is to most people very irksome, men will often take you at your own valuation. " On ne vaut dans ce monde," says La Bruyere, " que ce que Ton veut valoir."
Do not make enemies for yourself ; you can make nothing worse.
"Answer not a fool according to his folly, Lest thou also be like unto him." l
Remember that "a soft answer turneth away wrath"; but even an angry answer is less foolish than a sneer : nine men out of ten would rather be abused, or even injured, than laughed at. They will forget almost anything sooner than being made ridiculous.
" It is pleasanter to be deceived than to be undeceived." Trasilaus, an Athenian, went mad, and thought that all the ships in the Piraeus belonged to him, but having been cured by Crito, he complained bitterly that he
1 Proverbs.
n TACT 81
had been robbed. It is folly, says Lord Ches- terfield, " to lose a friend for a jest : but, in my mind, it is not a much less degree of folly, to make an enemy of an indifferent and neutral person for the sake of a bon-mot."
Do. not be too ready to suspect a slight, or think you are being laughed at — to say with Scrub in the Strategem, " I am sure they talked of me, for they laughed consumedly." On the other hand, if you are laughed at, try to rise above it. If you can join in heartily, you will turn the tables and gain rather than lose. Every one likes a man who can enjoy a laugh at his own expense — and justly so, for it shows good-humour and good-sense. If you laugh at yourself, other people will not laugh at you.
Have the courage of your opinions. You must expect to be laughed at sometimes, and it will do you no harm. There is nothing ridiculous in seeming to be what you really are, but a good deal in affecting to be what you are not. People often distress themselves, get angry, and drift into a coolness with others, for some quite imaginary grievance.
32 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
Be frank, and yet reserved. Do not talk much about yourself ; neither of yourself, for yourself, nor against yourself : but let other people talk about themselves, as much as they will. If they do so it is because they like it, and they will think all the better of you for listening to them. At any rate do not show a man, unless it is your duty, that you think he is a fool or a blockhead. If you do, he has good reason to complain. You may be wrong in your judgment ; he will, and with some justice, form the same opinion of you.
Burke once said that he could not draw an indictment against a nation, and it is very unwise as well as unjust to attack any class or profession. Individuals often forget and forgive, but Societies never do. Moreover, even individuals will forgive an injury much more readily than an insult. Nothing rankles so much as being made ridiculous. You will never gain your object by putting people out of humour, or making them look ridicu- lous..
Goethe in his Conversations with JEcker- mann commended our countrymen. Their
ir TACT 33
entrance and bearing in Society, he said, were so confident and quiet that one would think they were everywhere the masters, and the whole world belonged to them. Ecker- mann replied that surely young Englishmen were no cleverer, better educated, or better hearted than young Germans. " That is not the point," said Goethe; "their superiority does not lie in such things, neither does it lie in their birth and fortune : it lies precisely in their having the courage to be what nature made them. There is no half ness about them. They are complete men. Sometimes complete fools also, that I heartily admit ; but even that is something, and has its weight."
In any business or negotiations, be patient. Many a man would rather you heard his story than granted his request : many an opponent has been tired out.
Above all, never lose your temper, and if you do, at any rate hold your tongue, and try not to show it.
" Cease from anger, and forsake wrath : Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil." -1
1 Psalms.
34 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
For
" A soft answer turneth away wrath : But grievous words stir up anger." l
Never intrude where you are not wanted. There is plenty of room elsewhere. " Have I not three kingdoms?" said King James to the Fly, " and yet thou must needs fly in my eye."2
Some people seem to have a knack of saying the wrong thing, of alluding to any subject which revives sad memories, or rouses differ- ences of opinion.
No branch of Science is more useful than the knowledge of Men. It is of the utmost im- portance to be able to decide wisely, not only to know whom you can trust, and whom you cannot, but how far, and in what, you can trust them. This is by no means easy. It is most important to choose well those who are to work with you, and under you ; to put the square man in the square hole, and the round man hi the round hole.
" If you suspect a man, do not employ him : if you employ him, do not suspect him." 3
1 Proverbs. 2 Selden's Table Talk. 3 Confucius.
it TACT 35
Those who trust are oftener right than those who mistrust.
Confidence should be complete, but not blind. Merlin lost his life, wise as he was, for imprudently yielding to Vivien's appeal to trust her " all in all or not at all."
Be always discreet. Keep your own coun- sel. If you do not keep it for yourself, you cannot expect others to keep it for you. " The mouth of a wise man is in his heart ; the heart of a fool is in his mouth, for what he know- eth or thinketh he uttereth."
Use your head. Consult your reason. It is not infallible, but you will be less likely to err if you do so.
Speech is, or ought to be silvern, but silence is golden.
Many people talk, not because they have anything to say, but for the mere love of talk- ing. Talking should be an exercise of the brain, rather than of the tongue. Talkative- ness, the love of talking for talk ing's sake, is almost fatal to success. Men are " plainly hurried on, in the heat of their talk, to say quite different things from what they first
36 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
intended, and which they afterwards wish unsaid : or improper things, which they had no other end in saying, but only to find em- ployment to their tongue.
And this unrestrained volubility and wanton- ness in speech is the occasion of numberless evils and vexations in life. It begets resent- ment in him who is the subject of it ; sows the seed of strife and dissension amongst others ; and inflames little disgusts and offences, which, if let alone, would wear away of themselves." 1 " C'est une grande misere," says La Bru- yere, " que de n'avoir pas assez d'esprit pour bien parler, ni assez de jugement pour se taire." Plutarch tells a story of Demaratus, that being asked in a certain assembly whether he held his tongue because he was a fool, or for want of words, he replied, " A fool cannot hold his tongue." " Seest thou," said Solomon,
" Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words ? There is more hope of a fool than of him." 2
1 Dr. Butler's Sermons. 2 Proverbs xxix. 20.
ii TACT 37
Never try to show your own superiority : few things annoy people more than being made to feel small.
Do not be too positive in your statements. You may be wrong, however sure you feel. Memory plays us curious tricks, and both ears and eyes are sometimes deceived. Our pre- judices, even the most cherished, may have no secure foundation. Moreover, even if you are right, you will lose nothing by disclaiming too great certainty.
In action, again, never make too sure, and never throw away a chance. " There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip."
It has been said that everything comes to those who know how to wait ; and when the opportunity does come, seize it.
"He that wills not, when he may; When he will, he shall have nay."
If you once let your opportunity go, you may never have another.
" There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune : Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
38 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
On such a full sea are we now afloat :
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our venture." l
Be cautious, but not over-cautious ; do not be too much afraid of making a mistake ; " a man who never makes a mistake, will make nothing."
Always dress neatly : we must dress, there- fore we should do it well, though not too well ; not extravagantly, either in time or money, but taking care to have good mate- rials. It is astonishing how much people judge by dress. Of those you come across, many go mainly by appearances in any case, and many more have in your case nothing but appearances to go by. The eyes and ears open the heart, and a hundred people will see, for one who will know you. Moreover, if you are careless and untidy about yourself, it is a fair, though not absolute, conclusion that you will be careless about other things also.
When you are in Society study those who have the best and pleasantest manners. "Manner," says the old proverb with much
1 Shakespeare.
ii TACT 39
truth, if with some exaggeration, "maketh Man," and " a pleasing figure is a perpetual letter of recommendation."1 "Merit and knowledge will not gain hearts, though they will secure them when gained. Engage the eyes by your address, air, and motions ; soothe the ears by the elegance and harmony of your diction ; and the heart will certainly (I should rather say probably) follow." : Every one has eyes and ears, but few have a sound judgment. The world is a stage. We are all players, and every one knows how much the success of a piece depends upon the way it is acted.
Lord Chesterfield, speaking of his son, says, "They tell me he is loved wherever he is known, and I am very glad of it ; but I would have him be liked before he is known, and loved afterwards. . . . You know very little of the nature of mankind, if you take those things to be of little consequence ; one cannot be too attentive to them ; it is they that always en- gage the heart, of which the understanding is commonly the bubble."
1 Bacon. 2 Lord Chesterfield.
40 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP, n
The Graces help a man in life almost as much as the Muses. We all know that " one man may steal a horse, while another may not look over a hedge " ; and why ? because the one will do it pleasantly, the other disagreeably. Horace tells us that even Youth and Mercury, the God of Eloquence and of the Arts, were powerless without the Graces.
CHAPTER III
ON MONEY MATTERS
ECONOMY is not, I fear, sufficiently appre- ciated in England. Our countrymen work hard and make good incomes, but other nations excel us in thrift. " It's what thee'll spend, my son," said a wise old Quaker, "not what thee'll make, which will decide whether thee's to be rich or not." The very word "thrift" tells its own tale, being derived from the word " to thrive."
Apart from any question of being rich, it is wise and right to save, so as to provide for future needs. It is a mean proverb that, " When poverty comes in at the door, love flies out at the window ; " but it would be sad to see wife or children in want of food, or clothing, or medical attendance, or rest and change of air, and to feel that if you
41
42 THE USE OF LIFE
CHAP.
had been reasonably industrious, or had but denied yourself some, innocent perhaps, but unnecessary indulgence, you might have saved them from suffering and anxiety. Economy for the mere sake of money is no doubt mean, but economy for the sake of independence is right and manly.
Always keep accounts, and keep them carefully. I do not mean that it is worth while to put down every detail, but keep them so that you may know how the money goes and how much things cost you. No man who knows what his income is, and what he is spending, will run into extrava- gance. Spendthrifts begin by shutting their eyes to what they are doing. No one would face the precipice of ruin with his eyes open.
Whatever you do then, live within your income. Save something, however little, every year. But above all things, do not run into debt. If a man, says Dickens (and though he puts the advice into the mouth of Mr. Micawber, it is none the less wise), has an annual income " of twenty pounds, annual expenditure, nineteen, nineteen, six, result
in ON MONEY MATTERS 43
happiness. Annual income, twenty pounds, annual expenditure, twenty pounds, nought and six, result misery." l And yet the differ- ence is only a shilling.
It is not too strong to say that debt is slavery. " Who goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing." Many things in life are dis- agreeable. Horace Greeley, a man of great experience, well and truly said, " Hunger, cold, rags, hard work, contempt, suspicion, unjust reproaches, are disagreeable ; but debt is infinitely worse than them all. Never run into debt. If you have but fifty cents and can get no more a week, buy a peck of corn, parch it, and live on it, rather than owe any man a dollar."
The world, said Cobden, " has always been divided into two classes, — those who have saved, and those who have spent — the thrifty and the extravagant. The building of all the houses, the mills, the bridges, and the ships, and the accomplishment of all other great works which have rendered man civilised and happy, have been done by the
1 David Copperfield.
44 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
savers, the thrifty ; and those who have wasted their resources have always been their slaves. It has been the law of nature and of Providence that this should be so ; and I were an impostor if I promised any class that they should advance themselves if they were improvident, thoughtless, and idle."
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, said Plutarch, " gives asylum and security from their creditors to debtors, when they take refuge in it ; but the asylum and sanctuary of frugality is everywhere open to the sober- minded, affording them joyful and honour- able and ample space for much ease." Do not borrow then, and do not lend, except of course in the way of business. You will neither get your money nor thanks, for debtors always think themselves injured. Give then what you can afford liberally, but do not expect it back.
If money comes in slowly at first, do not be discouraged ; it is an ill lane which has no turning ; and if it happens that money at first comes easily, do not spend it all, but lay
Ill
OX MONEY MATTERS 45
up some for a rainy dayy remembering that good lanes have their turnings as well as bad ones ; and that as time goes on you will probably have more and more demands on your purse. Many a man in business has been ruined by being too fortunate at first.
Do not be in a hurry to get rich. If, says Ruskin, " you do not let the price command the picture, in time the picture will command the price."
Do not make yourself anxious about money. Though few can expect to make large fort- unes, any one with industry and economy may make a livelihood. We often hear of riches not honestly come by, but the fact is, that poverty is seldom honestly come by either. The poor are not those who have little, but those who want much.
Sir James Paget in one of his interesting addresses gave statistics as regards his own pupils, whose careers he had followed. Out of 1000. 200 left the profession, came into fort- unes, or died early. Of the remaining 800, 600 attained fair, some of them considerable success. Out of the whole number only 56
46 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
entirely failed. Of these 15 never passed the examinations, 10 broke down through intem- perance or dissipation, and out of the whole 1000 only 25 failed through causes apparently beyond their control. You may rest assured that in other walks of life, as in medicine, if you make yourself useful, you will be used.
In fact, no one need have much anxiety about the real necessaries of life. Nature needs little and gives much. Luxuries, on the other hand, are very expensive, and, as Franklin said, " what keeps one vice would bring up two children."
Remember that, as the Duke of Wellington wisely said, high interest means bad security.
Do not put too many eggs in one basket. However well you may be advised, however carefully you may have looked into the mat- ter, something may occur to upset all calcula- tions. The wisest merchants and bankers make mistakes. All that any sensible man of busi- ness expects is to be generally right. We learn in our earliest years that two and two make four ; but they also make twenty-two. As an arithmetical expression it is perfectly true
in ON MONEY MATTERS 47
that if we add two and two we get four, but in the conduct of life it is a delusion, and an injudicious application of the lesson has wrecked many a promising career.
Take things quietly. We are told that Lord Brougham never could sit still enough to be photographed, and always came out a blur.
Bagehot used to say that in business many men were ruined because they could not sit still in a room.
Every one is in one sense a man of busi- ness whether he wishes it or no. We have all duties to perform, a house to manage, our expenses to regulate, and small matters are sometimes as difficult and troublesome as large ones.
Success in business depends happily much more on common sense, care and attention, than on genius. " Keep your shop," says an old-fashioned proverb, " and your shop will keep you." Xenophon tells a story to the same effect : " The King of Persia, wishing to have a fine horse fattened as soon as possible, asked one of them who were sup-
48 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
posed to know most about such subjects, what would fatten a horse soonest, and was told 6 his master's eye.' '
It is very important to cultivate business- like habits. An eminent friend of mine assured me not long ago that when he thought over the many cases he had known of men, even of good ability and high charac- ter, who had been unsuccessful in life, by far the most frequent cause of failure was that they were dilatory, unpunctual, unable to work cordially with others, obstinate in small things, and, in fact, what we call unbusiness- like.
In small matters as in great, order and method are very important. The right thing in the right place, is a golden rule, and a little trouble in putting things away when you have done with them will save a great deal when you want them again.
Disorder, says Xenophon, " seems to me something like as if an husbandman should throw into his granary barley and wheat and peas together, and then, when he wants bar- ley bread or wheaten bread, or pea soup,
Ill
ON MONEY MATTERS 49
should have to abstract them grain by grain, instead of having them separately laid up for his use." l
He quotes the case of a ship in illustration. " For there is no time, when heaven sends a storm over the sea, either to seek for what may be wanting, or to hand out what may be difficult to use ; for the gods threaten and punish the negligent, and if they but forbear from destroying those who do nothing wrong, we must be very well content ; while if they preserve even those that attend to everything quite properly, much gratitude is due to them." 2 Keep everything then in its proper place.
Philosophers, not all of course, but many, from Aristotle to Carlyle, have decried those engaged in trade and commerce; or rather perhaps I should say Trade and Commerce themselves, as mean and almost degrading. Plato excluded all traders from citizenship in his Republic. Such a degrading occupation was to be left to foreigners, if any chose to engage in it. Trade and Commerce, however,
1 Xenophon's Economics, p. 105. 2 P. 106.
50 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
being necessarily the occupations of many, it would indeed be grievous if their influence on the character was necessarily injurious and incompatible with intellectual culture. But happily it is not so. Of course business men can only give their spare time to other pur- suits, but, taking illustrations from Science and Literature only, I might mention Nas- myth, the astronomer and manufacturer ; Grote, banker and historian ; Sir J. Evans, papermaker and President of the Society of Antiquaries, as well as Treasurer of the Royal Society ; Prestwich, merchant, and afterwards Professor of Geology at Oxford ; Rogers, banker and poet ; Praed, banker and poet ; may I say my own father, banker and mathe- matician, for many years Treasurer and Vice- President of the Royal Society ; and many others.
Carlyle objected vehemently to the princi- ple of buying in the cheapest and selling in the dearest market. He suggests that in some unexplained manner we should fix " our minimum of cotton prices," and I suppose of others ; that we should say, " We care not,
Ill
ON MONEY MATTERS 51
for the present, to make cotton any cheaper ; " that we should not under-sell other nations. u Brothers, we will cease to under-sell them ; we will be content to equal-sell them." This is not only impracticable, but it is unsound. If we sell less cotton goods, we must buy less food. Carlyle admits that more could be sold at a lower price, so that there would be hu- man beings in need of cotton clothes, but unable to afford the price agreed on. We could afford to take less, and yet he would have us refuse to do so, and to that extent deprive others of their clothing, and our own people of food. It is the very basis of com- merce to give what you can produce cheaply in exchange for what you cannot. To buy in the cheapest and sell in the dearest market is not only then the necessary rule of trade, but is best for all ; because in doing so you buy from those who most require to sell their produce, and sell to those who are most in need of your goods. Any other course would approximate to the proverbially useless pro- ceeding of carrying coals to Newcastle.
Many of the greatest and happiest and best
52 THE USE OF LIFE CHAI-.
of men have been very poor. Wordsworth and his sister lived for many years on 30s. a week, and, I believe, it was one of the hap- piest periods of his life.
If it is not your lot to be rich, association and affection may make some homely spot, some small cottage, some sweet face, the whole world to you.
It is, indeed, astonishing how many great men have been poor, even if we cannot go so far as to say with Mahomet, that " God never took a prophet save from the sheepfolds."
It is a common error to exaggerate what money can do for us.
Is it in the matter of food ?
" If a rich man wishes to be healthy, he must live like a poor one." l What can we have better for breakfast than tea or coffee, bread and butter, with perhaps an egg or a herring, or some honey ? What is a better lunch than bread and cheese and a glass of beer ? A plain dinner well cooked, and with a good appetite, will give as much pleasure as a Lord Mayor's feast. The wholesomest and best
1 Sir R. Temple.
Ill
ON MONEY MATTERS 53
things to eat cost comparatively little while they are in season, and out of season have little flavour. An egg is generally as good as a feast, and sometimes better.
Is it in books ? A man must be poor in- deed if he cannot buy as much as he can read. The best books — the Bible, Shake- speare, Milton, etc. — can be bought now, as the saying is, "for a song."
Will money buy health, genius, friends, beauty, or a happy home ?
The Duke of Tse, says Confucius, "was immensely rich, and nobody loved him ; Pei-ke died of hunger, and even now the people mourn him."
Above all,
" Can wealth give happiness ? Look around, and see What gay distress, what splendid misery ; I envy none their pageantry and show, I envy none the gilding of their woe." 1
Men in great fortunes, says Bacon, are strangers to themselves, and while they are " in the puzzle of business, have no time to at- tend to their health, either of mind or body."
1 Young.
54 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
All fetters are bad, even if they be made of gold. Money is 110 doubt a source of much anxiety. It has its cares as well as poverty, and in the case of many rich men, they are really the slaves, and not the masters, of money. Riches in many cases, as Bishop Wilson said, " become not only the care, but the torment, of those that possess them."
Many a man, no doubt, has been ruined by money, and on the whole, probably the rich are more anxious about money matters than the poor. To none but the wise can wealth bring happiness. The man who is too eager to be rich will always be a poor fellow. " It is probably much happier," says Ruskin, "to live in a small house, and have Warwick Castle to be astonished at, than to live in Warwick Castle, and have nothing to be astonished at."
To enjoy riches, do not set your heart upon them. Enough, said Sadi, " will carry you, more you must yourself carry."
" I ride not on a camel, but am free from load and
trammel,
To no subject am I lord, but 1 fear no monarch's word ;
in ON MONEY MATTERS 55
I think not of the morrow, nor recall the gone-by
sorrow, Thus I breathe exempt from strife, and thus moves
my tranquil life." l
" It is a miserable state of mind," said Bacon, " to have few things to wish for, and many to fear."
" If thou art rich, thou'rt poor : For like an ass, whose backe with ingots bound, Thou bear'st thy heavy riches but a journey, And death unloadeth thee." 2
Why then?
" Why lose we life in anxious cares To lay in hoards for future years ? Can these, when tortured by disease, Cheer our sick hearts, or purchase ease ? Can these prolong one gasp of breath, Or calm the troubled hour of death ? " 3
Wealth is a great temptation to avarice ; as we learnt long ago at school : " Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit ; " or, as Oliver Wendell Holmes wittily puts it-
i Sadi, 2 Shakespeare. 3 Gay.
56 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
" I care not much for gold or land : Give me a mortgage here and there,
Some good bank-stock — some note of hand, Or trifling railway share :
I only ask that Fortune send
A little more than I can spend."
The poor man, said Seneca, " wanteth many things, but the covetous man wanteth every- thing."
It has been satirically observed that there would be more good Samaritans, if it were not for the twopence and the oil.
A continual and restless search after Fort- une, says Bacon, "takes up too much of then- time, who have nobler things to ob- serve ; " l for wealth is only good as far as it adds to life, not life as it adds to wealth. Poverty has been called the scholar's bride, and "he can well spare his mule and span- niers who has a winged chariot instead." 2
Our very expressions about money are significant. We constantly hear of a man making money, or made of money, or rolling in money, never of "enjoying" money, and those indeed who make money rarely make it
1 Bacon. 2 Emerson.
nr ON MONEY MATTERS 57
for themselves. " He heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them."
In Xenophon's banquet, Charmides main- tains that Poverty is better than riches, for: —
66 It is acknowledged that to feel secure is better than to be in fear ; that to be free is better than to be a slave ; to be trusted by one's country better than to be distrusted ; but, when I was a rich man in this city, I was afraid, in the first place, lest somebody should break into my house, seize upon my money, or do me personal harm. . . . Now I can lay myself down to sleep. I am not called upon to serve in the parish ; I am not rich enough to be suspected by the Government ; I am at liberty to leave the city, or to stay in it at pleasure. When I was rich, people re- proached me for associating with Socrates and other low philosophers. Now I can choose my friends ; for, since I am grown poor, nobody pays any further attention to me. When I had much, I was always un- happy, because I was always losing some- thing ; now I am grown poor, I lose nothing,
58 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
for I have nothing to lose; and yet I am constantly consoled and cheered with the hopes of getting something."
There was a great deal of truth in what Charmides said, but it was not the whole truth. Moreover, Charmides, when he said it, had just enjoyed a good dinner, enlivened by music.
If wisely used money may do much. Gold is a power. " Money," said a witty French- man, "is the Sovereign of Sovereigns."1 Money gives us the means of acquiring what we wish. If fresh air, a good house, books, music, etc., are enjoyable, money will buy them ; if leisure is an advantage, money en- ables us to take it ; if seeing the world is delightful, it will pay for our journeys ; if to help our friends, to relieve those who are in distress, is a privilege, money confers on us this great blessing.
"Keep it then," said Swift, "in your head, but not in your heart."
The miser is the man who loves money for its own sake ; who carries economy to excess ;
1 Rivarol.
in ON MONEY MATTERS 59
who is a mere covetous machine. One lesson we have to learn in life is to keep ourselves free from mean and petty cares, and love of money is one of the meanest.
The great thing is to use wealth wisely. " There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth," says Solomon; "and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty."
The well-known epitaph on Edward Courte- nay, Earl of Devonshire, says —
" What we gave, we have ; What we spent, we had ; What we left, we lost."
Or, as another version of the same idea has
it —
"What I saved, I lost; What I spent, I had ; What I gave, I have."
Be liberal, though not lavish.
"There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing. There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches."
"He that hath pity on the poor, lendeth unto the
Lord; And that which he hath given will he pay him
again." 1
1 Proverbs.
60 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
The advice given by Christ to the rich young man may perhaps be considered as of individual application, for we must remember our children as well as the poor. Your in- come is indeed your own, but what you have inherited from your ancestors does not belong to you alone.
Those who have money are like the ser- vants to whom their Lord entrusted the talents in the parable. We shall have to account for it. It is a trust committed to us. Money is nothing to be proud of.
" Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.
" That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.
" Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." l
It is not money, but the love of money, which the Bible tells us is the root of all evil.
il Timothy.
in ON MONEY MATTERS 61
"If riches increase, set not your heart upon them." In the Sermon on the Mount the same reason is given.
" Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal :
" But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
CHAPTER IV
RECREATION
ALL work and no play is proverbially admitted to make Jack a dull boy. If the work is indoor work it will also tend to make him a delicate boy and a weak man. Games are by no means loss of time. They are important in developing the body, and especially the upper part, — the arms and the chest, which many of our ordinary avocations tend rather to contract than to expand.
Games not only keep a man in health, but give him spirit for his work ; they teach him how to get on with other men : to give way in trifles, to play fairly, and push no advan- tage to an extremity.
They give moral, as well as physical, health ; daring and endurance, self-command and good-humour, — qualities which are not
62
CHAP, iv RECREATION 63
to be found in books, and no teaching can give. The Duke of Wellington truly said that the Battle of Waterloo was won in the playing fields of Eton. Many of the best and most useful lessons of public schools are those which the boys learn in the play- ground. Only let games be the recreation, not the business of your life.
As regards the importance of games to health, I will quote two of our greatest physiological authorities: — "Games," says Sir James Paget, "are admirable in all the chief constituent qualities of recreations; but, besides this, they may exercise a moral influence of great value in business or in any daily work. For without any induce- ment of a common interest in money, with- out any low motive, they bring boys and men to work together ; they teach them to be colleagues in good causes with all who will work fairly and well with them ; they teach that power of working with others which is among the best powers for success in every condition of life. And by custom, if not of their very nature, they teach fair-
64 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
ness : foul play in any of them, however sharp may be the competition, is by consent of all disgraceful ; and they who have a habit of playing fair will be the more ready to deal fair. A high standard of honesty in their recreations will help to make people despise many things which are far within the limits of the law. . . . Now, I think that if we look for the characteristics which may be found in all good active recreations, and on which their utility chiefly depends, we shall find that they all include one or more of these three things : namely, uncer- tainties, wonders, and opportunities for the exercise of skill in something different from the regular work. And the appropriate- ness of these three things seems to be, especially, in that they provide pleasant changes which are in strong contrast with the ordinary occupations of most working lives, and that they give opportunity for the exercise of powers and good dispositions which, being too little used in the daily business of life, would become feeble or be lost."
iv RECREATION 65
Professor Michael Foster, Secretary of the Koyal Society, in his recent Rede lecture has told us that " even in muscular work the weariness is chiefly one of the brain ; and we are all familiar with a weariness of the brain in causing which the muscles have little or no share. All our knowledge goes to show that the work of the brain, like the work of the muscles, is accompanied by chemical change ; that the chemical changes, though differing in details, are of the same order in the brain as in the muscle ; and that the smallness of the changes in the brain as compared with those of the muscle is counterbalanced, or more than counterbalanced, by the exceeding sensitive- ness of the nervous substance. . . .
"If an adequate stream of pure blood, of blood made pure by efficient co-operation of organs of low degree, be necessary for the life of the muscle, in order that the working capital may be rapidly renewed and the harmful prod- ucts rapidly washed away, equally true, per- haps even more true, is this of the brain. Moreover, the struggle for existence has brought to the front a brain ever ready to out-
66 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
run its more humble helpmates ; and even in the best regulated economy, the period of most effective work between the moment when all the complex machinery has been got into work- ing order and the moment when weariness begins to tell, is bounded by all too narrow limits. If there be any truth in what I have laid before you, the sound way to extend those limits is not so much by rendering the brain more agile as by encouraging the humbler helpmates so that their more efficient co-oper- ation may defer the onset of weariness."
Hunting, shooting, and fishing in common language monopolise the term Sport. Even those of us who do not take our exercise and recreation with the Hounds, the Gun, or the Rod, still feel the fascination. We have in- herited it from our ancestors, who not only lived to a great extent by and for " sport " in this world, but looked forward to it as the greatest happiness in the next. The wild boar, says Ossian : —
" The wild boar rushes over their tombs, But he does not disturb their repose. They still love the sport of their youth, And mount the wind with joy."
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Though so much has been written about our debt to pure Water, yet we owe quite as much to fresh Air. How wonderful it is! It permeates all our body, it bathes the skin in a medium so delicate that we are not conscious of its presence, and yet so strong that it wafts the odours of flowers and fruit into our rooms, carries our ships over the seas, the purity of sea and mountain into the heart of our cities. It is the vehicle of sound, it brings to us the voices of those we love and all the sweet music of nature ; it is the great reservoir of the rain which waters the earth, it softens the heat of day and the cold of night, covers us overhead with a glorious arch of blue, and lights up the morning and evening skies with fire. It is so exquisitely soft and pure, so gentle and yet so useful, that no wonder Ariel is the most delicate, lovable, and fascinating of all Nature Spirits.
"For of all things," says Jefferies, "there is none so sweet as sweet air — one great flower it is, drawn round about, over and en- closing, like Aphrodite's arms : as if the dome of the sky were a bell-flower drooping down
68 THE USE OF LIFE
CHAP.
over us, and the magical essence of it filling all the room of the earth. Sweetest of all things is wild-flower air. Full of their ideal, the starry flowers strain upwards on the bank, striving to keep above the rude grasses that pushed by them: genius has ever had such a struggle. The plain road was made beautiful by the many thoughts it gave. I came every morning to stay by the starlit bank.
" Not till years after, was I able to see why I went the same round and did not care for change. I do not want change. I want the same old and loved things, the same wild flowers, the same tree and soft ash-green, the turtle doves, the blackbirds, the coloured yellow-hammer sing, sing, singing as long as there is light to cast a shadow on the dial, for such is the measure of his song, and I want them in the same place ... all the living staircase of the Spring, step by step, up- wards to the great gallery of the Summer — let me watch the same succession year by year."1
Our fields do not contain the same rich
1 Jefferies.
IV RECREATION 69
variety of flowers as those of Switzerland, but at times they glow with buttercups,
" And Ladysmocks, all silver white, Do paint the meadows with delight," J
while woods are perhaps even more beautiful, more enchanting —
" So wondrous wild the whole might seem, The scenery of a fairy dream."
We often hear of bad weather, but in real- ity, no weather is bad. It is all delightful, though in different ways. Some weather may be bad for farmers or crops, but for man all kinds are good. Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhil- arating. As Ruskin says, " There is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."
Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the blue sky, is by no means waste of time.
Moreover, air and exercise generally go
70 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
together, so that you will combine both ad- vantages. There is nothing so good for the inside of a man as the outside of a horse. Every one indeed ought to make it a primary and sacred duty to be at least two hours of the day in the open air.
Fresh air is as good for the mind as for the body. Nature always seems trying to talk to us as if she had some great secret to tell. And so she has.
Earth and Sky, Woods and Fields, Lakes and Rivers, the Mountain and the Sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books. But more than this, if you go away into the country, row yourself on a river, gather flowers in a wood, or fossils in a pit, pick up shells and seaweeds on a shore, play cricket or golf, or give yourself fresh air and exercise in any other way, you will find that you have not only gained in health, but that your cares and troubles and anxieties are washed away, or at any rate greatly lightened. Nature calms, cools, and invig- orates us. She renders the mind more serene, more cheerful.
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A life devoted to pleasure and recreation would of course be not only selfish, but in- tolerably insipid. Games should never be the business of life, but in moderation enjoyment is not idleness.
And what are the elements of Recreation ? There are true pleasures and false pleasures. Plato makes Protarchus ask Socrates, " And true pleasures, Socrates, which are they?"
Socrates. " Those from beautiful colours, as they are called, and from figures, and most of those from odours, and those from sounds, and any objects whose absence is unfelt and painless, while their presence is sensible and productive of pleasure."
But while the senses can give true pleasure, this is not the highest good. Philebus, he continues, maintained "that enjoyment and pleasure and delight, and the class of feeling akin to them, are a good to every living being, whereas I contend that not these, but wisdom and knowledge and memory, and their kin- dred, right opinion and true reasonings, are better and more desirable than pleasure for all who are able to partake of them, and that
72 THE USE OF LIFE
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to all such who are or ever will be, they are the most advantageous of all things."
The true pleasures are almost innumerable. Relations and Friends, Conversation, Books, Music, Poetry, Art, Exercise and Rest, the beauty and variety of Nature, Summer and Winter, Morning and Evening, Day and Night, Sunshine and Storm, Woods and Fields, Rivers, Lakes and Seas, Animals and Plants, Trees and Flowers, Leaves and Fruit, are but a few of them.
We ask for no small boon when we pray for " the kindly fruits of the earth, so that we may enjoy them." Moreover, it may even be possible that " there are many new joys unknown to man, and which he will find along the splendid path of civilisation." l
It is our own fault if we do not enjoy lue. " All men," says Ruskin, " may enjoy, though few can achieve."
One of the greatest talismans in the Ara- bian Nights is the Magic Carpet, on which if a man sat, he was transported wherever he wished to be. Railways do this now for all
1 Mantegazza in Ideals of Life.
iv RECREATION 73
of us, and " as we increase the range of what we see, we increase the richness of what we can imagine." *
Again, I should rank a good talk very high among the pleasures of existence. It is an admirable tonic, food both for mind and body. Herrick vividly acknowledges his debt to Ben Jonson, and describes their suppers —
"When we such clusters had As made us nobly wild, not mad ; And yet, each verse of thine Outdid the meat, outdid the frolic wine."
When Johnson wished to describe a pleas- ant evening, Sir, he said, " We had a good talk." And I have often found an hour with Darwin or Lyell, Kingsley or Ruskin, Hooker or Tyndall, as invigorating as a draught of fresh air.
There are few gifts in which men differ more than in the Art of Conversation. I have known very clever men, — men, too, who could be made most interesting, — but from whom nothing was to be expected unless it were absolutely extracted from them. A
1 Ruskin.
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good talker is always welcome. Like every- thing else, the art can be cultivated. No one can expect to talk well without practice.
"The first ingredient of good talk," says Sir William Temple, " is truth, the next good sense, the third good-humour, and the fourth wit," and the first three at any rate are in the power of any one.
Many people have learned much of what they know from conversation. " He that questioneth much," says Bacon, " shall learn much and content much ; but especially if he apply his questions to the skill of the persons whom he asketh ; for he shall give them occa- sion to please themselves in speaking, and himself shall continually gather knowledge."
We do not sufficiently cultivate in children, or, for that matter, in ourselves either, the sense of Beauty. Yet what pleasure is so pure, so costless, so accessible, indeed so ever present with us ! One man will derive the keenest delight from scenery, trees and foli- age, fruit and flowers, the blue sky, the fleecy clouds, the sparkling sea, the ripple on the lake, the gleam on the river, the shadows on
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RECREATION 75
the grass, the moon and stars at night. To another, all this is nothing. The moon and stars shine in vain ; Birds and Insects, Trees and Flowers, River and Lake and Sea, Sun, Moon, and Stars give him no pleasure.
" For of the Soule the bodie forme doth take ; For Soule is forme, and doth the bodie make." 1
Our artificial colours are " good enough for the splendour of lowly pride, but not good enough for one wreath of perishing cloud, nor one feather in a wild duck's wing." 2
" There is yet a light," says Ruskin, " which the eye invariably seeks with a deeper feeling of the beautiful, — the light of the declining or breaking day, and the flecks of scarlet clouds burning like watchfires in the green sky of the horizon." The colours of the sky seem to lighten up the earth, and " the orange stain on the edge of yonder western peak re- flects the sunset of a thousand years." Sun- sets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the Gates of Heaven.
1 Spenser. 2 Hamerton.
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The Talmudic Commentators tell us that in Manna every one found the taste he liked best, and so in Nature every one who seeks will find what he most enjoys.
I have no idea, however, of attempting to exhaust the long list of true pleasures. And where there are so many innocent pleasures, why choose any which are bad, or even doubt- ful? At any rate exhaust the good, if you can : it will then be time enough to think of others.
Those who have, as the saying is, " seen life " and think they know " the world," are very much mistaken ; they know less of the realities of existence than many a peasant who has never left his own parish, but has used his eyes wisely there.
A life of indulgence, a " gay life," as it is falsely called, is a miserable mockery of hap- piness. Those who have fallen victims to it complain of the world, when they have only themselves to blame. " Lorsque les plaisirs nous ont epuises, nous croy ons que .nous avons epuise les plaisirs." l " I am young," said
1 Vauvenargues.
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RECREATION 77
De Musset, " I have passed but the half of the road of life, and already weary, I turn and look back." What a melancholy confession ! If he had lived wisely he would have looked back with thankfulness, and forward with hope.
The worth of a life is to be measured by its moral value. " Further, the Soul and Body make a perfect Man, when the Soul commands wisely, or rules lovingly, and cares profitably, and provides plentifully, and con- ducts charitably that Body which is its part- ner and yet the inferior. But if the Body shall give Laws, and by the violence of the appetite, first abuse the Understanding, and then possess the superior portion of the Will and Choice, the Body and the Soul are not apt company, and the man is a fool and mis- erable. If the Soul rules not, it cannot be a companion : either it must govern or be a slave." l
1 Jeremy Taylor.
CHAPTER V
HEALTH
THE soul is of course the noblest part of man, but in the present conditions of our ex- istence at any rate, it can only act through and by the body. An amusing illustration is afforded by the first experiment of our great countryman, Faraday. He began life as a boy in a chemist's shop, and being one day sent to a customer, he could not make any one hear when he rang the bell. He put his head through the railings to try and see whether any one was at home, and then the question occurred to him, on which side of the railings he really was? He decided that a man was where his head was, but at that moment the door was suddenly opened before he could move out of the way, and squeezed his leg against the railings, bringing
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CHAP, v HEALTH 79
forcibly home to him the truth of the old parable about the head and the other mem- bers.
The conditions of our life render the study of health now especially important. Our an- cestors lived more in the country, more in the open air, more in agricultural operations. We are to a much greater extent concentrated in cities, work much more in houses, shops and factories ; our occupations are sedentary and stooping, and are a greater tax on the brain and nervous system. It can, I fear, hardly be doubted that the people of our great cities are less vigorous than their forefathers. No one can drive through the poorer parts of London, or any other great manufacturing centre, without being struck by the want of vitality, the pale faces, and narrow chests of both men and women. Moreover, our very sanitary improvements are in one respect a danger, by keeping alive the weak and the diseased. Much of the misery of disease is due to causes which might be obviated by a little care and attention, and some elementary knowledge of the laws of health.
80 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
Even in the earliest times of which we have any record, wise statesmen paid much atten- tion to the subject of health. They realised the great importance of the Mens sana in corpore sano.
The care of our health is a sacred duty. It is sometimes said that the hygienic rules of Moses formed a considerable part of his relig- ious teaching. This, I think, is hardly correct. We must remember that what we have in the Bible is a code of laws — civil and social, as well as religious. Nevertheless, the laws of health, if not strictly a part of religion, have always been regarded as coming near to it. " What ! know ye not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own ? " * The Egyptian reverence for the body was wiser than the Mediaeval contempt, and there is no inherent virtue, but really the reverse, in rags and dirt.
The Greeks " made physical as well as in- tellectual education a science as well as a study. Their women practised graceful, and
i St. Paul.
v HEALTH 81
in some cases, even athletic exercises. They developed, by a free and healthy life, those figures which remain everlasting and unap- proachable models of human beauty." r
"7Tis Life, not Death, for which we pant: 'Tis Life, whereof our nerves are scant : More Life, and fuller, that we want."
Cleanliness is next to Godliness, says the old proverb, and the modern discoveries in medical science not only confirm the old adage, but explain clearly the reason, and show why it is so.
We now know that many diseases are not primarily due to any abnormal condition of the tissues, but are actual invasions by other organisms; that cholera, small-pox, and prob- ably several other diseases cannot originate of themselves, but that the germs must be planted in us. Hence the great importance of cleanliness, not only in ourselves, but in the houses we live in, the clothes we wear, the water we drink, and the air we breathe.
The human body is indeed a standing mira- cle ! Consider for a moment the marvellous
1 Kingsley.
82 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
amount of knowledge stored up in the brain ! Consider the rapidity with which the muscles answer to the will ! Sir James Paget has told us that a practised musician can play on the piano at the rate of twenty-four notes in a second. For each note a nerve current must be transmitted from the brain to the fingers, and from the fingers to the brain. Each note requires three movements of a finger, the bending down and raising up, and at least one lateral, making, no less than seventy-two motions in a second, each requir- ing a distinct effort of the will, and directed unerringly with a certain speed, and a certain force, to a certain place.
The skin is a delicate and most elaborate organ, built up of millions of cells, and con- taining miles of veins, and ducts, capillaries and nerves. It is continually renewing itself, and to fulfil its functions properly, requires a reasonable amount of care, and plenty of water. The use of the brush is, moreover, al- most as necessary for the skin as for the hair.
It may be said of many an invalid, as it was by Milton of Hobson, that " ease was his chief disease."
v HEALTH 83
" The luxuries of Campania weakened Han- nibal, whom neither snows nor Alps could vanquish : victorious in arms, he was con- quered in pleasure." *
The senses, — full of innocent delight as they are, — will no doubt, if we yield to them, wreck us, like the Sirens of old, on the rocks and whirlpools of life. We bring many diseases on ourselves by errors of diet. The word drink is often used as synonymous with Alcohol — the great curse of northern na- tions. In some cases a valuable medicine, but yet so great a temptation as to be the source of probably half the sin and misery and suffering of our countrymen. Honest water never made any one a sinner, but crime may almost be said to be concentrated alco- hol. "Where Satan cannot go in person," says an old Jewish proverb, ahe sends wine."
" Once the demon enters,
Stands within the door ; Peace, and hope, and gladness Dwell there never more." 2
"Wine," says Pliny, "maketh the hand quiver, the eye watery, the night unquiet,
1 Seneca. 2 Challis.
84 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
evil dreams, a foul breath in the morning, and an utter forgetfulness of all things." Sir W. Raleigh quotes this passage, and adds, " Whosoever loveth wine shall not be trusted of any man, for he cannot keep a secret. Wine inaketh man not only a beast, but a madman ; and if thou love it, thy own wife, thy children, and thy friends will despise thee."
Shakespeare has several excellent passages in condemnation of drink.
" Oh that men should put an enemy in their mouths To steal away their brains ! that we Should with joy, pleasance, revel and applause, Transform ourselves into beasts."
"To be now a sensible man, by and by a fool, and presently a beast." This is, how- ever, really unfair to beasts.
On the other hand, how rich is the reward of moderation !
" Though I look old yet am I strong and lusty : For in my youth I never did apply Hot and rebellious liquors to my blood.
Therefore my age is as a lusty winter, Frosty, but kindly." l
1 Shakespeare
v HEALTH 85
Surprise has sometimes been expressed that the evils of drunkenness are not more often denounced in the Bible, but we must remem- ber that it was written in a hot country. Drunkenness is especially a vice of cold cli- mates. It is, however, denounced by Solo- mon —
" Who hath woe ? Who hath sorrow ? Who hath contentions ? Who hath babbling ? Who hath wounds without cause ? Who hath red- ness of eyes ?
They that tarry long at the wine ; They that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it giveth his colour in the cup :
At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder." T
There are some grounds for hope that drunkenness is a decreasing evil. The greater opportunities for intellectual occupa- tions, the easier access to music, pictures and books, the more respectable and comfortable homes of our people, have done, and are doing, much to encourage temperance.
1 Proverbs.
86 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
But if the evils of alcohol are more con- spicuous, those of overeating are also very common. Probably nine people out of ten eat more than they need, more than is good for them. An occasional feast matters little ; it is the continual daily overloading ourselves with food which is so injurious, so depressing. It is easy to eat too much ; there is no fear of eating too little.
Moderation should run through the whole of life. " In truth, refining the gold of both knowledge and vigour, it increases tenfold the value of both, and adding gentleness to strength, and temperance to enthusiasm, is perhaps the great secret of success in work."1
Moderation is strength, not weakness ; it implies self-command and self-control.
Do not linger long over meals, but do not eat quickly. It is said that you should always rise from the table feeling as if you would wish for more. The brain cannot work if the stomach is full. " After dinner rest awhile" is a good rule, but it is a poor life if you eat so much that you have to rest
1 Miss Sewell.
v HEALTH 87
from one meal to another. Eat to live, but do not live to eat. Long meals make short lives.
When savages wish to become " medicine men," one of the preparations is a long fast. The result is an increased activity of the nervous system, which they take for inspira- tion. They carry it, no doubt, too far ; but any one who tries, will find that he can do better mental work if he keeps down the amount of his food.
A light stomach, moreover, makes a light heart. High feeding means low spirits, and many people suffer as much from dyspepsia as from all other ailments put together.
" Beware," says Bacon, " of any sudden change in any great point of diet, and if necessity enforce it, fit the rest to it, to be free-minded and cheerfully disposed at hours of meat, and of sleep and of exercise is the best precept of long lasting."
" If you wish to be well," said Abernethy, " you must live on 6d. a day, and earn it yourself." This wise saying comprises in a few words the requisites both as to diet and
88 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
as to exercise. You can buy, especially in these cheap times, sufficient food for 6d., — good wholesome food, — but you cannot get drunk, and you are not likely to overeat yourself. It emphasises also the necessity of exercise.
As we are now situated, scarcely any time spent in the open air can be said to be wasted. Such hours will not only be counted in life, but will actually add to it, — will tend to make " your days long in the land." The Romans had an excellent proverb — " In aere salus," and you can hardly be too much out of doors.
Pure water is as important as fresh air. Plenty of water, cold if you can stand it, and both outside and in. Even what may seem minor matters, such as attention to the teeth, may make no small difference to the comfort of life.
Health is much more a matter of habits and of diet than of medicine. Our ancestors used to take drugs to keep off disease. Not only the College of Physicians, but even Bacon, recommended them. Yet it was a
v HEALTH 89
radical error. Locke seems to have been the first to point out the fallacy. The very name of Medical Science seems to point to the use of drugs. But if we live sensibly we shall require to spend very little on medicine.
Give Nature fair play and let her alone. " Do not," said Napoleon, " counteract the living principle : leave it the liberty of de- fending itself : it will do better than any drugs."
With plenty of air, plenty of water, and moderation in diet, most of us may enjoy the glorious feeling of health and strength, and even retain the spring of youth until far on in age.
But health is not merely a matter of the body. " Anger, hatred, grief and fear are among the influences most destructive of vitality." * And on the other hand, cheerful- ness, good-humour, and peace of mind are powerful elements of health.
We are told that Lycurgus dedicated a lit- tle statue to the god of Laughter in each of the Spartan eating-halls. Most people, said
1 Dr. Richardson.
90 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
Buffon, " might live to be older, but they die of conceit and chagrin." He was speaking of his own countrymen, but it is true of others also.
When we are out of sorts things get on our nerves, the most trifling annoyances assume the proportions of a catastrophe. It is a sure sign that we need rest and fresh air.
We often hear of over-pressure in children, and of older people who have worked them- selves to death. In most cases it is not hon- est work, but excitement, worry, and anxiety which rum the constitution. Idleness, dissi- pation, and self-indulgence have killed many more than good hard work. The brain re- quires exercise as well as the muscles. If you train yourself to early hours, temperance, and wise habits, work, even hard work, if only not excessive, will do you more good than harm.
Most of us have at some time or another to pass through a period of sleeplessness. It is certainly most depressing ; one feels as if some great misfortune were impending ; little difficulties, which at other times it would be
v HEALTH 91
a pleasure to surmount, appear insuperable; the mind seems to fly from everything pleas- ant, and broods over anything which has gone, or possibly may go, wrong. Do not, however, despair ; I believe sleeplessness never killed any one. But above all do not take drugs ; that is the real danger. Be as little in the house, and as much out of doors as you possibly can, take things as easily as you may, and depend upon it, the blessing of sleep will one day return. If it has not lasted too long, you will be to a great extent repaid, for you will have learnt to know the blessing of sleep, which as a rule we do not half appreciate.
Many bodily ailments have their origin in the mind. Medical men have not to consider physical symptoms only, but will often find themselves face to face with the question —
"Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased; Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow ; Raze out the written troubles of the brain; And with some sweet oblivious antidote, Cleanse the stuff' d bosom of that perilous stuff, Which weighs upon the heart ? " l
1 Shakespeare.
92 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
Moreover, health is not only a great ele- ment of happiness, but it is essential to good work. It is not merely wasteful but selfish to throw it away.
It is impossible to do good work, — at any rate, it is impossible to do our best, — if we overstrain ourselves. It is bad policy, because all work done under such circumstances will inevitably involve an additional period of quiet and rest afterwards; but apart from this, work so done will not be of a high quality, it will show traces of irritability and weakness : the judgment will not be good : if it involves co-operation with others there will be great possibility of friction and mis- understandings. Let any one try to make a sketch, and he will see at once that his hand is not steady, not under proper control, and this is not merely a matter of muscular fatigue, but of nervous exhaustion. Labour ought to be enjoyed ; and to enjoy it, we must work steadily and energetically, but not incessantly, not neglecting food and rest, exercise and holidays.
The weakening and lowering tendency of
v HEALTH 93
ill-health is especially marked when it is self- incurred. On the other hand, there are some who, through no fault of their own, are born to a life of suffering. It almost seems in such cases as if Nature often compensates for the weakness of the body by the clearness and brightness of the mind. We have all met some great sufferers, whose cheerfulness and good-humour are not only a lesson to us who enjoy good health, but who seem to be, as it were, raised and consecrated by a life of suf- fering.
CHAPTER VI
NATIONAL EDUCATION
FROM the earliest times of which we have any record, the wisest of men have urged the importance of education.1
" Of all treasure," says the Hitopadesa, " knowledge is the most precious, for it can neither be stolen, given away, nor consumed." '< Education," says Plato, "is the fairest thing that the best of men can ever have."
Montaigne stated broadly that ignorance was " the mother of evil." " Learning," said Fuller, " is the greatest alms that can be given." 2 " Pouvoir, " said a French moralist, "sans savoir est fort dangereux." An igno- rant life must always be comparatively a dull
1 It is, however, rather remarkable that so far as I know there has been no book expressly written for children until quite within recent years.
2 Fuller's Worthies.
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CHAP, vi NATIONAL EDUCATION 95
one. It has been well said that Man needs knowledge, not merely as a means of liveli- hood, but as a means of life.
Petrarch said that what he cared for most was to learn, and Shakespeare probably ex- pressed his own .views in the words which he put into the mouth of Lord Say, that
" Ignorance is the curse of God ; Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven."
Solomon in a beautiful passage tells us that —
" Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,
And the man that getteth understanding: For the merchandise of it is better than the mer- chandise of silver,
And the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies :
And all the things thou canst desire
Are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand ;
And in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace." l
And again —
" Wisdom is the principal thing ; therefore get wisdom : And with all thy getting get understanding."
1 Proverbs.
96 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
And yet the prevailing opinion was long in the opposite direction, especially as regards girls. There was a German saying that the wardrobe was the library of women, and a French proverb that girls should be kept either within the four evangelists or four walls. It is not so long since it was thought that neither poor people on the one hand, nor gentlemen on the other, had anything to do with edu- cation. It was supposed to be a mere mat- ter for priests and monks. The very word "clerk" conveys this idea.
Even so wise and good a man as Dr. John- son laid it down almost as a self-evident axiom, that if every one learnt to read it would be impossible to find any one who would do the manual work of the world. Dr. Johnson was a great literary authority, and did not realise the dignity of labour.
That was one stage. A second was that education had special reference to the business of life. That it was necessary to be careful lest children should be raised above their station. That reading, writing, and arithmetic only, were necessary for poor children, — reading
vi NATIONAL EDUCATION 97
and writing for the details of business, and arithmetic in order to keep accounts.
This view was extended to all departments of business. Lord Eldon is reported to have selected his bankers (who must have been very different from the present members of the firm) because, he said, they were the stupidest bankers in London, and that if he could find any stupider he would move his account. Hazlitt maintained that boys who were in- tended for business should not be taught any- thing else. Any one, he said, "will make money if he has no other idea in his head."
That is the second stage.
Now we advocate Education, not merely to make the man the better workman, but the workman the better man. Victor Hugo well said that "he who opens a school, closes a prison."
" Most of our children," said a Swiss states- man, " are born to poverty, but we take care that they shall not grow up to ignorance." We also, in England, are now beginning to appreciate the importance of education. Gray could not now say of our rural population that
98 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
"... Knowledge to their eyes her ample page,
Bich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll ; Chill penury repressed their noble rage And froze the genial current of the soul."
Matthew Arnold tells us in his Culture and Anarchy that there are still many who think that culture and sweetness and light are all moonshine. But this was written in 1869.
The year 1870, the year of the passing of the Education Act, was a most important epoch in the social history of our country. At that time the number of children in our elementary schools was 1,400,000. It is now over 5,000,000. And what has been the re- sult ? First let me take the criminal statis- tics. Up to 1887 the number of persons in prison showed a tendency to increase. In that year the average number was 20,800. Since then it has steadily decreased, and now is only 13,000. It has, therefore, diminished in round numbers by one-third. But we must remember that the population has been steadily increasing. Since 1870 it has in- creased by one-third. If our criminals had increased in the same proportion, they would
vi NATIONAL EDUCATION 99
have been 28,000 instead of 13,000, or more than double. In that case then, our expendi- ture on police and prisons would have been at least £8,000,000 instead of £4,000,000. In juvenile crime the decrease is even more satis- factory. In 1856 the number of young per- sons committed for indictable offences was 14,000. In 1866 it had fallen to 10,000 ; in 1876 to 7000 ; in 1881 to 6000 ; and, according to the last figures I have been able to obtain, to 5100. Turning to poor-rate statistics we find that in 1870 the number of paupers to every thousand of the population was over 47. It had been as high as 52. Since then it has fallen to 22, and in a parenthesis I may say I am proud to find that in the metropolis we are substantially below the average. The proportion, therefore, is less than one-half of what it used to be. Our annual expenditure on the poor from rates is £8,000,000, and, supposing it had remained at the former rate, it would have been over £16,000,000, or £8,000,000 more than the present amount. If, then, we were now pay- ing at the same rate as twenty years ago,
100 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
the cost of our criminals would have been £4,000,000 more than it is, and our poor-rate £8,000,000 larger.
I may add that the statistics of the worst crimes are even more remarkable and satis- factory. The yearly average of persons sen- tenced to penal servitude in the five years ending in 1864 was 2800, and that number has steadily fallen, being for last year only 729, or but one quarter, notwithstanding the increase of population. In fact eight of our convict prisons have become unnecessary, and have been applied to other purposes.
As showing the close connection of crime and ignorance, I may also observe that ac- cording to the last returns which I have been able to obtain, out of 157,000 persons com- mitted to prison there were only 5000 who could read and write well, and only 250 who were what could be called educated persons.
The following table1 illustrates in a strik- ing manner the great and progressive decrease in the number of sentences for serious crime, and it will be seen that the figures are all the
1 Rep. of the Dir. of Convict Prisons, 1893.
NATIONAL EDUCATION-
101
more striking because,. while $he
criminals has been falling, the population, on
the other hand, has been rapidly rising : —
Yearly average number of persons sentenced on indictment to penal servitude in England and Wales.
|
During 5 years ending — 31st December 1859 |
2589 |
19,257,000 |
|
Do 1864 |
2800 |
20,370,000 |
|
Do 1869 |
1978 |
21,681,000 |
|
Do. 1874 Do 1879 |
1622 1633 |
23,088,000 24,700,000 |
|
Do 1884 . ... |
1427 |
26,313,251 |
|
Do 1889 . . |
945 |
27,830,179 |
|
Do 1892 |
791 |
29,055,550 |
Estimated
average
population of
England and
Wales.
It will not, however, I hope, be supposed that I should look at the question as a mere matter of £ s. d. I have only referred to this consideration as a reply to them who object on the score of expense.
Of course, I am aware that various allow- ances would have to be made, that other circumstances have to be taken into consider- ation, and that these figures cannot claim any
102 .WT?BL.UTSJE OF LIFE CHAP.
Scientific-; accuracy ; «at fche same time they are interesting and very satisfactory.
The fact is that only a fraction of the crime of the country arises from deliberate wicked- ness or irresistible temptation ; the great sources of crime are drink and ignorance. The happy results which have been obtained are due, not only to the good which the chil- dren learn in school, the habits of cleanliness and order which they acquire, but to the fact that they are not learning the evil lessons of the streets, but are protected from the fatal teaching and example of the criminal and the loafer.
We are beginning then to feel the advan- tage of Education in the diminution of the poor-rate1 and the emptying of our prisons, showing the diminution of paupers and crim- inals, and especially, I may add, of juvenile crime.
It may, however, well be doubted whether we have yet devised the best system of educa- tion. There are three great questions which
1 Of course I am here speaking of the rate for the mainte- nance of the poor. Many other expenses are included in what is technically called the "poor-rate."
vi NATIONAL EDUCATION 103
in life we have over and over again to answer. Is it right or wrong ? Is it true or false ? Is it beautiful or ugly ? Our education ought to help us to answer these questions.
Nearly two centuries ago Bacon spoke of those who " call upon men to sell their books and buy furnaces, forsaking Minerva and the Muses as barren virgins, and relying upon Vulcan." We must not forsake Minerva and the Muses, but yet we have never sufficiently based our education on the Bible of Nature.
Reading and Writing, Arithmetic and Gram- mar do not constitute Education, any more than a knife, fork, and spoon constitute a din- ner. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could neither read nor write, and probably were quite igno- rant of the rule of three.
I have been often accused of attacking clas- sical education. This, however, I have never done. The Classics are a most important part of education, which it would be absurd to undervalue or neglect, but they are not the whole, and our Education, as Charles Buxton observed, " too often consists in merely learning the words which dead gentlemen of
104 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
2000 years ago would have used." To neg- lect other subjects is, to use Cicero's meta- phor, as if a man took care of his right side only, and neglected the left. Much of our so-called classical education is, however, not even classical. So much attention and time are devoted to the grammar, that the sense of the Classical writers is lost. It is, in fact, a branch of Science, viz. Grammar, — not, however, always taught scientifically, or in the most interesting manner. Moreover, in our present system our boys are not taught to speak Latin or Greek ; and as a climax of absurdity, as a last precaution to render the instruction as useless as possible, they are trained to pronounce the words very differ- ently from the Romans or Greeks themselves, or indeed for the people of any other country, and even from the Scotch.
The system fails to give any love of Classi- cal literature. Thackeray, in his notes of a journey from Cornhill to Cairo, imagines the Greek Muse coming to him and asking if he were not charmed to find himself at Athens, to which he replies with more truth than
vi NATIONAL EDUCATION 105
politeness, " Madam, your company in youth was made so laboriously disagreeable to me that I cannot at present reconcile myself to you in age."
But important as they are, the Classics are only one side of Education. The very ex- pression " Literae humaniores " shows how much in the old view Education should be allied to human sympathy — to the wider kins- manship which unites man to man. Shake- speare, we are told, had " small Latin and less Greek." Books, even with all the help they can receive from meditation and discourse, can supply only part of education. The boy who has studied books only, who knows noth- ing of Nature, nothing of the world in which we live, cannot grow into a whole man ; he can never be more than a mere fraction.
It has, moreover, been justly observed that much of our so-called education is " like read- ing a treatise on Botany to a flower-bed, to make the plants grow." l
We have not only much to learn, but much to unlearn.
1 Guesses at Truth.
106 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
While making these remarks I am far in- deed from being ungrateful to schoolmasters. Theirs is a most laborious, exhausting, and responsible profession. Nothing is more de- lightful than playing with children. To teach them is a different matter.
To give instruction in grammar and arith- metic is perhaps fairly easy. " Yes, this is easy ; but to help the young soul, add energy, inspire hope, and blow the coals into a useful flame ; to redeem defeat by new thought, by firm action, that is not easy, that is the work of divine men." 1
Education is not intended to make Lawyers or Clergymen, Soldiers or Schoolmasters, Farmers or Artisans, but Men.. "I call a complete and generous education," said Mil- ton, "that which fits a man to perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war."
Philosophers have always been too ready to suppose that questions of fact can be settled by verbal considerations. Plutarch
1 Emerson.
vi NATIONAL EDUCATION 107
has an amusing discussion on the question, Which came first ? the Hen or the. Egg ? and one consideration brought forward is that the hen came first, because every one speaks of a hen's egg and no one says an egg's hen.
It cannot be right to let our children grow up, so that
" Unknown to them the subtle skill
With which the artist eye can trace In rock and tree, and lake and hill, The outlines of divinest grace." l
" If any imagine," says Jefferies, " that they will find thought in many books, they will be disappointed. Thought dwells by the stream and sea, by the hill and in the woodland, in the sunlight and free wind." Unfortunately, however, the streams and sea, the forests and sunlight and fresh air, are less accessible to us than we could wish. Moreover, thought no doubt dwells in books too. But they must be used with judgment. Language is a very imperfect instrument of expression. It is not every boy that grows
i Whittier.
108 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
into a man. Even the truths of Arithmetic must be used with caution.
It is probably from the defects in our system, which I have just alluded to, that so many fail to carry on any systematic self- education after leaving school. No doubt we go on learning as long as we live : " Live and learn," says the old proverb ; but the question is whether we learn in a haphazard manner scraps of information which we light on in a newspaper or in a novel ; or whether we carry on anything which can fairly be called self -training and education.
I have elsewhere 1 given the views of one high authority as to what might reasonably be expected, and will here quote the very similar opinion given by Professor Huxley : —
" Such education should enable an average boy of fifteen or sixteen to read and write his own language with ease and accuracy, and with a sense of literary excellence de- rived from the study of our classic writers : to have a general acquaintance with the his- tory of his own country and with the great
1 The Pleasures of Life.
vi NATIONAL EDUCATION 109
laws of social existence, to have acquired the rudiments of the physical and psychological sciences, and a fair knowledge of elementary arithmetic and geometry. He should have obtained an acquaintance with logic rather by example than by precept; while the ac- quirements of the elements of music and drawing should have been pleasure rather than work."
Such information is most interesting. Many of us have felt with John Hunter, the great anatomist, and could say that " As a boy, I wanted to know about the clouds and the grasses, and why the leaves changed colour in the Autumn. I watched the Ants, Bees, Birds, Tadpoles, and Caddis Worms ; I pestered people with questions about what nobody knew or cared anything about."
" I will only," observes Locke in his treatise on Education, " say this one thing concern- ing books, that however it has got the name, yet converse with books is not, in my opinion, the principal part of study ; there are two others which ought to be joined with it, each whereof contributes their share to our im-
110 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP, vi
provement in knowledge ; and those are meditation and discourse. Reading, me- thinks, is but collecting the rough materials, amongst which a great deal must be laid aside as useless. Meditation is, as it were, choosing and fitting the materials, framing the timbers, squaring and laying the stones, and raising the buildings ; and discourse with a friend (for wrangling in a dispute is of little use) is, as it were, surveying the structure, walking in the rooms, and observing the symmetry and agreement of the parts, tak- ing notice of the solidity or defects of the works, and the best way to find out and correct what is amiss ; besides that it helps often to discover truths, and fix them in our minds as much as either of the other two."
CHAPTER VII
SELF-EDUCATION
EDUCATION is the harmonious development of all our faculties. It begins in the nursery, and goes on at school, but does not end there. It continues through life, whether we will or not. The only question is whether what we learn in after life is wisely chosen or picked up haphazard. " Every person," says Gibbon, " has two educations, one which he receives from others, and one more important, which he gives himself."
What we teach ourselves must indeed always be more useful than what we learn of others. " Nobody," said Locke, " ever went far in knowledge, or became eminent in any of the Sciences, by the discipline and restraint of a Master."
You cannot, even if you would, keep your 111
112 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
heart empty swept and garnished ; the only question is whether you will prepare it for good or evil.
Those who have not distinguished them- selves at school need not on that account be discouraged. The greatest minds do not necessarily ripen the quickest. If, indeed, you have not taken pains, then, though I will not say that you should be discouraged, still you should be ashamed ; but if you have done your best, you have only to persevere ; and many of those who have never been able to distinguish themselves at school, have been very successful in after life. We are told that Wellington and Napoleon were both dull boys, and the same is said to have been the case with Sir Isaac Newton, Dean Swift, Clive, Sir Walter Scott, Sheridan, Burns, and many other eminent men.
Evidently then it does not follow that those who have distinguished themselves least at school have benefited least.
Genius has been described as "an infinite capacity for taking pains," which is not very far from the truth. As Lilly quaintly says,
VII
SELF-EDUCATION 113
" If Nature plays not her part, in vain is Labour ; yet if Studie be not employed, in vain is Nature."
On the other hand, many brilliant and clever boys, for want of health, industry, or character, have unfortunately been failures in after life, as Goethe said, " like plants which bear double flowers, but no fruit ; " and have sunk to driving a cab, shearing sheep in Aus- tralia, or writing for a bare subsistence ; while the comparatively slow but industrious and high-principled boys have steadily risen and filled honourable positions with credit to them- selves and advantage to their country.
Doubts as to the value of education have in some cases arisen, as Dr. Arnold says, from "that strange confusion between ignorance and innocence with which many people seem to solace themselves. Whereas, if you take away a man's knowledge, you do not bring him to the state of an infant, but to that of a brute ; and of one of the most mischievous and malignant of the brute creation," l for, as he points out elsewhere, if men neglect
1 Arnold's Christian Life.
114 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
that which should be the guide of their lives, they become the slaves of their passions, and are left with the evils of both ages — the igno- rance of the Child, and the vices of the Man.
No one whose Education was well started at school would let it stop. It is a very low view of Education to suppose that we should study merely to serve a paltry convenience, that we should confine it to what the Germans call "bread and butter" studies.
The object of a wise education is in the words of Solomon —
" To know wisdom and instruction ; To perceive the words of understanding ; To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, and judgment, and equity ; To give subtlety to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion." l
A man, says Thoreau, " will go considerably out of his way to pick up a silver dollar; but here are golden words, which the wisest Men of Antiquity have uttered, and whose worth the wise of every succeeding age have assured us of."
1 Proverbs.
vii SELF-EDUCATION 115
A sad French proverb says, " Si jeunesse savait, si viellesse pouvait ; " and a wise edu- cation will tend to provide us with both requi- sites, with knowledge in youth and strength in age. Experience, said Franklin, " is a dear school, but fools will learn in no other."
It is half the battle to make a good start in life.
" Train up a child in the way he should go ; And when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Begin well, and it will be easier and easier as you go on. On the other hand, if you make a false start it is far from easy to re- trieve your position. It is difficult to learn, but still more difficult to unlearn.
Try to fix in your mind what is best in books, in men, in ideas, and in institutions. We need not be ashamed if others know more than we do ; but we ought to be ashamed if we have not learnt all we can.
Education does not consist merely in study- ing languages and learning a number of facts. It is something very different from, and higher than, mere instruction. Instruction
116 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
stores up for future use, but education sows seed which will bear fruit, some thirty, some sixty, some one hundred fold.
" Wisdom is the principal thing ; therefore get wis- dom: And with all thy getting get understanding." l
Knowledge is admittedly very inferior to wisdom, but yet I must say that she has some- times received very scant justice. We are told, for instance, that
" Knowledge is proud that she has learnt so much ; Wisdom is humble that she knows no more." 2
But this is not so. Those who have learnt most, are best able to realise how little they know.
Even Bishop Butler tells us that " Men of deep research and curious inquiry should just be put in mind, not to mistake what they are doing. If their discoveries serve the cause of virtue and religion, in the way of proof, motive to practice, or assistance in it ; or if they tend to render life less unhappy, and promote its satisfactions ; then they are most
1 Proverbs. 2 Cowper.
vii SELF-EDUCATION 117
usefully employed : but bringing things to light, alone and of itself, is of no manner of use, any otherwise than as an entertainment or diversion."
It has again been unjustly said that knowl- edge is
" A rude unprofitable mass,
The mere materials with which wisdom builds."
He would be a poor architect, however, who was careless in the choice of materials, and no one can say what the effect of " bringing things to light " may be. Many steps in knowledge, which at the time seemed practi- cally useless, have proved most valuable.
Knowledge is power. " Knowledge of the electric telegraph saves time; knowledge of writing saves human speech and locomotion ; knowledge of domestic economy saves income ; knowledge of sanitary laws saves health and life ; knowledge of the laws of the intellect saves wear and tear of brain ; and knowledge of the laws of the Spirit — what does it not save?"1
" For direct self-preservation," says Herbert
1 Kingsley.
118 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
Spencer, "or the maintenance of life and health, the all-important knowledge is — Science ; for that indirect self-preservation which we call gaining a livelihood, the knowl- edge of greatest value is — Science. For the due discharge of parental functions, the proper guidance is to be found only in — Science. For that interpretation of national life, past and present, without which the citizen cannot rightly regulate his conduct, the indispensable key is — Science. Alike for the most perfect production and highest enjoyment of Art in all its forms, the needful preparation is still — Science. And for purposes of discipline — intellectual, moral, religious — the most effi- cient study is, once more — Science."
" When I look back," says Dr. Fitch, " on my own life, and think on the long past school and college days, I know well that there is not a fact in history, not a formula in mathematics, not a rule in grammar, not a sweet and pleasant verse of poetry, not a truth in science which I ever learned, which has not come to me over and over again in the most unexpected ways, and proved to be
vii SELF-EDUCATION 119
of greater use than I could ever have believed. It has helped me to understand better the books I read, the history of events which are occurring round me, and to make the, whole outlook of life larger and more interesting."
Lastly, I will quote Dean Stanley. " Pure love of truth," he says, " how very rare and yet how very beneficent ! We do not see its merits at once : we do not perceive, perhaps, in this or the next generation, how widely happiness is increased in the world by the discoveries of men of science, who have pur- sued them simply and solely because they were attracted towards them by their single- minded love of what was true." 1 Well then may Solomon say that
" A wise man will hear, and will increase learning." 2
There is hardly any piece of information which will not corne in useful, hardly any- thing which is not worth seeing at least once. There are in reality no little things, only little minds.
"Knowledge is like the mystic ladder in
1 Stanley's Life. 2 Proverbs.
120 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
the Patriarch's dream. Its base rests on the primeval earth — its crest is lost in the shadowy splendour of the empyrean ; while the great authors who for traditionary ages have held the chain of science and philosophy, of poesy and erudition, are the angels ascend- ing and descending the sacred scale, and maintaining, as it were, the communication between earth and heaven." l
It is sad, however, to remember in how many cases the authors of great discoveries are unknown ; sad, not on their account, but because we should wish to remember them with gratitude. Great discoverers have sel- dom worked for themselves, or for the sake of fame.
"For Truth with tireless zeal they sought; In joyless paths they trod : Heedless of praise or blame they wrought, And left the rest to God.
" But though their names no poet wove In deathless song or story, Their record is inscribed above; Their wreaths are crowns of glory." r*
1 Lord Beaconsfield. 2 Dewart.
vii SELF-EDUCATION 121
Attention and application to your studies are absolutely necessary to the enjoyment of life. If you give only half your mind to what you are doing, it will cost you twice as much labour.
It is sad to think how little intellectual enjoyment has yet added to the happiness of Man, and yet the very word school (o^oX-ty) meant originally rest or enjoyment. It is most important, says Mr. J. Morley, "both for happiness and for duty, that we should habitually live with wise thoughts and right feelings."
The brain of Man should be
" The Dome of thought, the Palace of the Soul." J We are, says Donne,
" We are but farmers of ourselves, yet may, If we can stock ourselves and thrive, uplay Much good treasure for the great rent day."
There is much in the creed of Positivists with which I cannot agree, but they have a noble motto — " L' amour pour principe, 1'or- dre pour base, et le progres pour but."
1 Byron.
122 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
There are, however, says Emerson, many "innocent men who worship God after the tradition of their fathers, but whose sense of duty has not extended to the use of all their faculties."
Man measures everything by himself. The greatest mountain heights, and the depth of the ocean, in feet ; our very system of arith- metical notation is founded on the number of our fingers. And yet what poor creatures we are ! What poor creatures we are, and how great we might be ! What is a man ? and what is a man not ?
A man, says Pascal, is " res cogitans, id est dubitans, affirmans, negens, pauca intelli- gens, multa ignorans, volens, nolens, imagi- nans etiam, et sentiens."
Man, he says elsewhere, " is but a reed, the feeblest thing in Nature ; but he is a reed that thinks (un roseau pensant). It needs not that the Universe arm itself to crush him. An exhalation, a drop of water, suffices to destroy him. But were the Universe to crush him, Man is yet nobler than the Universe, for he knows that he dies ; and the Universe, even
vii SELF-EDUCATION 123
in prevailing against him, knows not its power."
What qualities are essential for the perfect- ing of a human being ? A cool head, a warm heart, a sound judgment, and a healthy body. Without a cool head we are apt to form hasty conclusions, without a warm heart we are sure to be selfish, without a sound body we can do but little, while even the best inten- tions without sound judgment may do more harm than good.
If we wish to praise a friend we say that he is a perfect gentleman. What is it to be a gentleman ? asked Thackeray, " is it to be honest, to be gentle, to be brave, to be wise ; and possessing all these qualities, to exercise them in the most graceful outward manner ?" A gentleman, he adds, " is a rarer thing than some of us think for." Kings can give titles, but they cannot make gentlemen. We can all, however, be noble if we choose.
" That man," says Archdeacon Farrar, " ap- proaches most nearly to such perfection as is attainable in human life whose body has been kept in vigorous health by temperance, so-
124 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
berness, and chastity ; whose mind is a rich storehouse of the wisdom learned both from experience and from the noblest thoughts which his fellow- men have uttered ; whose imagination is a picture gallery of all things pure and beautiful ; whose conscience is at peace with itself, with God, and with all the world, and in whose spirit the Divine Spirit finds a fitting temple wherein to dwell."
The true method of self-education, says John Stuart Mill, is " to question all things : never to turn away from any difficulty ; to accept no doctrine either from ourselves or from other people without a rigid scrutiny by negative criticism ; letting no fallacy or in- coherence or confusion of thought, step by unperceived ; above all, to insist upon having the meaning of a word clearly understood before using it, and the meaning of a preposi- tion before assenting to it : — these are the lessons we learn." And these lessons we might all learn.
In the earlier stages of Education at any rate all men might be equal ; neither rank nor wealth give any substantial advantage.
vii SELF-EDUCATION 125
Sir W. Jones said of himself that with the fortune of a peasant, he gave himself the education of a prince. It was long ago re- marked that there was no royal road to learn- ing : or rather perhaps it might more truly be said that all roads are royal. And how great is the prize ! Education lights up the History of the World and makes it one bright path of progress ; it enables us to appreciate the literature of the world ; it opens for us the book of Nature, and creates sources of interest wherever we find ourselves.
And if we cannot hope that it should ever be said of us that
" He was a man, take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again," l
it might at any rate be true that
" He hath a daily beauty in his life,"
for have we not all immortal longings in us ? If Education has not been in all cases suc- cessful, this has been the fault not of educa- tion itself, but of the spirit in which it has been too often undertaken. " For men have
1 Shakespeare.
126 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP, vn
entered into a desire of learning and knowl- edge sometimes upon a natural curiosity and inquisitive appetite, sometimes to entertain their minds with variety and delight, some- times for ornament and reputation, but seldom sincerely to give a true account of their gift of reason to the benefit and use of men. As if there were sought in knowledge a couch whereupon to rest a searching and restless spirit ; or a terrace for a wandering and vari- able mind to walk up and down with a fair prospect ; or a tower of state for a proud mind to rest itself upon ; or a fort or com- manding ground for strife and contention ; or a shop of profit or sale, and not a rich store- house for the glory of the Creator and the relief of man's estate." *
1 Bacon.
CHAPTER VIII
ON LIBRARIES
A GREAT countryman of ours, Richard de Bury, Bishop of Durham, writing in praise of books more than five hundred years ago, well said : " These are the masters who instruct us without rods and ferules, without hard words and anger, without clothes or money. If you approach them, they are not asleep ; if, investigating, you interrogate them, they conceal nothing ; if you mistake them, they never grumble ; if you are ignorant, they can- not laugh at you. The library, therefore, of wisdom is more precious than all riches, and nothing that can be wished for is worthy to be compared with it. Whosoever, therefore, acknowledges himself to be a zealous follower of truth, of happiness, of wisdom, of science.
127
128 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
or even of the faith, must of necessity make himself a lover of books."
And if he could say this with truth so long ago, how much more may we do so. Let us just consider how much better off we are than he was then. In the first place, to say noth- ing of the advantages of print, how much cheaper books are. For the price of a little beer, or one or two pipes of tobacco, a man can buy as much as he can read in a month ; in his day, on the contrary, books were very expensive. Again, while our books are small and handy, theirs were ponderous, immense, very inconvenient either to hold or read. Even our most learned books are in one sense light reading. But, what is far more im- portant, we have not only all the most inter- esting books which De Bury could command, but many more also. Even of ancient litera- ture, much had been lost and has been re- discovered. In his day one might almost say that the novel was unknown. As regards Poetry he lived before Shakespeare or Milton, Scott or Byron, to say nothing of living more recent authors. We have the interesting and
vin ON LIBRARIES 129
exciting voyages of Captain Cook, Darwin, Humboldt, and many other great travellers and explorers. In science, chemistry and geology have been created, and indeed the progress of discovery has made all the other sciences, — natural history, astronomy, geog- raphy, etc., — far more interesting.
Schopenhauer has observed that though his Science never brought him in any income, it had saved him a great deal of expense. As a nation, we must gratefully admit that science has not only enormously increased our income, but has greatly reduced our ex- penditure in various ways. Money spent on schools, libraries, and museums is rather an investment than an expense. We do not, however, advocate schools and Public Libra- ries because they save our pockets, but because they do so much to lighten and brighten the lives of our fellow-citizens. There is but little amusement in the lives of the very poor.
I have been good-humouredly laughed at more than once for having expressed the opinion that in the next generation the
130 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
great readers would be our artisans and mechanics.
Bat is not the continued increase of Pub- lic Libraries an argument in support of my contention ? Before a Free Library can be started a popular vote must be taken, and we know that the clergy and the lawyers, the doctors and the mercantile men, form but a small fraction of the voters. The Pub- lic Libraries are called into being by the artisan and the small shopkeeper, and it is by them that they are mainly used. Books are peculiarly necessary to the working-men in our towns. Their life is one of much monotony. The savage has a far more varied existence. He must watch the habits of the game he hunts, their migrations and feeding-grounds ; he must know where and how to fish; every month brings him some fresh occupation and some change of food. He must prepare his weapons and build his own house; even the lighting of a fire, so easy now, is to him a matter of labour and skill. The agricultural labourer turns his hand to many things. He ploughs and sows,
vin ON LIBRARIES 131
mows and reaps. He plants at one season, uses the bill-hook and the axe at another. He looks after the sheep and pigs and cows. To hold the plough, to lay a fence, or tie up a sheaf, is* by no means so easy as it looks. It is said of Wordsworth that a stranger having on one occasion asked to see his study, the maid said : " This is master's room, but he studies in the fields." The agricultural labourer learns a great deal in the fields. He knows much more than we give him credit for, only it is field-learning, not book-learning — and none the worse for that. But the man who works in a shop or man- ufactory has a much more monotonous life. He is confined to one process, or, perhaps, even one part of a process, from year's end to year's end. He acquires, no doubt, a skill little short of miraculous, but, on the other hand, very narrow. If he is not himself to become a mere animated machine, he must generally obtain, and in some cases he can only obtain, the necessary variety and inter- est from the use of books. There is happily now some tendency to shorten the hours of
132 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
labour, except, indeed, in shops, and what is less satisfactory, there are times when work is slack. But the hours of leisure should not be hours of idleness; leisure is one of the grandest blessings, idleness one of the greatest curses — one is the source of happiness, the other of misery. Suppose a poor man has for a few days no work, what is he to do ? How is he to employ his time? If he has access to a Library it need no longer be lost. The reasons for educating our children apply equally to the grown-up. We have now all over the country good elementary schools. We do our best to educate our chil- dren. We teach them to read, and try to give them a love of reading. Why do we do this? Because we believe that no one can study without being the better for it, that it tends to make the man the better work- man, and the workman the better man. But education ought never to stop, and the library is the school for the grown-up. There is a story that King Alfred, when a child, once set his heart on a book. " He shall have thet book," said his mother, "when he can read
vin ON LIBRARIES 133
it ; " and by that title Alfred won it. Our children have learnt to read ; have they not also the same title to books ? Many of those who are not Socialists in the ordinary sense, would be so if they thought Socialism would have the effect which its advocates anticipate. It is because we do not believe that Socialism in the ordinary sense would promote "the greatest good of the greatest number," that we are not Socialists. But the difficulties we feel do not apply to books. It is said that a poor woman on seeing the Sea for the first time was delighted. " It was grand," she said, "to see something of which there was enough for everybody." Well, there are books enough for every one, and the best books are the cheapest. Reading is a pleas- ure as to which wealth gives scarcely any advantage. This applies to few other things. We who are engaged in the "puzzle of busi- ness " seem always to wish for rather more than we have. But in books fortune showers on us more than we can possibly use.
We are beginning to realise that education should last through life, that the education
134 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
of our children should not be a mere matter of grammar and of words, but should include some training of the hand and eye ; so, on the other hand, the life of the grown-up man and woman should not be altogether devoted to work with the hands, to the pur- suit of money, but they should devote some time to the acquisition of knowledge, and the improvement of their minds. Why should not every one, moreover, add something to the sum of human knowledge ? however hum- ble his lot in life, he may do so. We do not yet appreciate the dignity of manual labour, and there seems a general impression that science is something up in the clouds ; all very well for philosophers and geniuses, and those who have the means of buying ex- pensive apparatus, but for them only. This is quite a mistake. To whom do we owe our national progress ? Partly, no doubt, to wise sovereigns and statesmen, partly to our brave Army and Navy, partly to the gallant ex- plorers who paved the way to our Colonial Empire, partly to students and philosophers. But while we remember with gratitude all
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ON LIBRARIES 135
they have accomplished, we must not forget that the British workman, besides all he has done with his strong right arm, has used his brains also to great advantage.
Watt was a mechanical engineer ; Henry Cort, whose improvements in manufactures are said to have added more to the wealth of England than the whole value of the national debt, was the son of a brickmaker; Huntsman, the inventor of cast steel, was a poor watchmaker ; Crompton was a weaver ; Wedgwood was a potter ; Brindley, Telford, Mushat, and Neilson were working men; George Stephenson began life as a cowboy at twopence a day, and could not read till he was eighteen ; Dalton was the son of a poor weaver; Faraday of a blacksmith; Newco- men of a blacksmith ; Arkwright began life as a barber ; Sir Humphrey Davy was an apothecary's apprentice ; Boulton, " the father of Birmingham," was a button-maker; and Watt the son of a carpenter. To these men, and others like them, the world owes a deep debt of gratitude. We ought to be as proud of them as of our great generals and statesmen.
136 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
We often hear of " civilised nations/' and no doubt some are more civilised than others. But no country is yet even approximately en- titled to the name. We must try to make ours a real civilisation, and the establishment of libraries is certainly one step forwards in the right direction.
When Household Suffrage was passed, Lord Sherbrooke remarked that we must educate our masters, but it is even more important to enable them to educate themselves.
There are many whose birth is a sentence of hard labour for life ; but it does not follow that their life should on that account be un- happy or uninteresting. Only if they have few amusements, and little variety in their lives, all the more desirable is it that they should have access to good books.
One of our greatest men of science, Sir John Herschel, has told us that : " Were I to pray for a taste that should stand me in stead under every variety of circumstances, and be a source of happiness and cheerfulness to me during life, and a shield against its ills, how- ever things might go amiss, and the world
vin ON LIBRARIES 137
frown upon me, it would be a taste for read- ing. Give a man this taste, and the means of gratifying it, and you can hardly fail of making him a happy man ; unless, indeed, you put into his hands a most perverse selec- tion of books. You place him in contact with the best society in every period of his- tory, with the wisest, the wittiest, the tender- est, the bravest, and the purest characters which have adorned humanity. You make him a denizen of all nations, a contemporary of all ages. The world has been created for him."
Books are almost living beings. " Books," said Milton, " do contain a progeny of life in them, as active as that soul was whose pro- geny they are." Great writers at any rate never die.
" He is not dead whose glorious mind
Lifts thine on high. To live in hearts we leave behind, Is not to die."
The Duke of Urbino, who founded the great library there, made it a rule that every book should be bound in crimson, ornamented with silver.
138 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP, vin
Books are the accumulated treasures of by-gone ages. Lamb used to say that there was more reason for saying grace before a new book, than before a dinner.
When, moreover, we remember how much is spent on drink, certainly no one can accuse us of extravagance on books. How little our libraries cost us as compared with our cel- lars! Most people look a long time at the best book before they would give the price of a bottle of wine for it. It is rather sad to think that when we speak of a public-house, we always think of a place for the sale of drink. I am glad, however, to know that on all sides public-houses are now rising for the supply, not of beer, but of books.
CHAPTER IX
ON READING
BOOKS are to Mankind what Memory is to the Individual. They contain the History of our race, the discoveries we have made, the accumulated knowledge and experience of ages ; they picture for us the marvels and beauties of Nature ; help us in our difficulties, comfort us in sorrow and in suffering, change hours of ennui into moments of delight, store our minds with ideas, fill them with good and happy thoughts, and lift us out of and above ourselves.
There is an Oriental story of two men : one was a king, who every night dreamt he was a beggar ; the other was a beggar, who every night dreamt he was a prince and lived in a palace. I am not sure that the king had very much the best of it. Imagination is some-
139
140 THE USE OF LIFE
CHAP.
times more vivid than reality. But, however this may be, when we read, we may not only (if we wish it) be kings and live in palaces, but, what is far better, we may transport ourselves to the mountains or the seashore, and visit the most beautiful parts of the earth, without fatigue, inconvenience, or expense. "Give me," says Fletcher —
" Leave to enjoy myself. That place that does Contain my books, the best companions, is To me a glorious court, where hourly I Converse with the old sages and philosophers ; And sometimes for variety I confer With kings and emperors, and weigh their counsels ; Calling their victories, if unjustly got, Into a strict account ; and in my fancy Deface their ill-placed statues. Can I then Part with such constant pleasures, to embrace Uncertain vanities ? No, be it your care To augment a heap of wealth ; it shall be mine To increase in knowledge."
Books have often been compared to friends. But among our living companions, inexorable Death often carries off the best and brightest. In books, on the contrary, time kills the bad, and purifies the good.
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ON READING 141
" The wise
(Minstrels or sage) out of their books are clay ; And in their books, as from their graves, they rise Angels, — that side by side, upon our way, Walk with and warn us !
We call some books immortal. Do they live ? If so, believe me, Time hath made them pure, In books, the veriest wicked rest in peace — God wills that nothing evil should endure ; The grosser parts fly off and leave the whole, As the dust leaves the disembodied soul." l
Many of those who have had, as we say, all that this world can give, have yet told us they owed much of their purest happiness to books. Ascham, in Tlie Schoolmaster, tells a touching story of his last visit to Lady Jane Grey. He found her sitting in an oriel window read- ing Plato's beautiful account of the death of Socrates. Her father and mother were hunt- ing in the Park, the hounds were in full cry and their voices came in through the open window. He expressed his surprise that she had not joined them. But, said she, " I wist that all their pleasure in the Park is but a shadow to the pleasure I find in Plato."
Macaulay had wealth and fame, rank and
1 Bulwer Lytton.
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power, and yet he tells us in his biography that he owed the happiest hours of his life to books. In a charming letter to a little girl, he says, "Thank you for your very pretty letter. I am always glad to make my little girl happy, and nothing pleases me so much as to see that she likes books, for when she is as old as I am she will find that they are better than all the tarts and cakes, toys and plays, and sights in the world. If any one would make me the greatest king that ever lived, with palaces and gardens and fine din- ners, and wines and coaches, and beautiful clothes, and hundreds of servants, on con- dition that I should not read books, I would not be a king. I would rather be a poor man in a garret with plenty of books than a king who did not love reading."
Books, indeed, endow us with a whole en- chanted palace of thoughts. There is a wider prospect, says Jean Paul Richter, from Par- nassus than from the throne. In one way they give us an even more vivid idea than the actual reality, just as reflections are often more beautiful than real Nature. All mirrors,
ix ON READING 143
says George Macdonald, " are magic mirrors. The commonest room is a room in a poem when I look in the glass."
If a book does not interest us it does not follow that the fault is in the book. There is a certain art in reading. Passive reading is of very little use. We must try to realise what we read. Everybody thinks they know how to read and write ; whereas very few people write well, or really know how to read. It is not enough to recognise the mere words on the paper, to read listlessly or mechanically ; we must endeavour to realise the scenes described, and the persons who are mentioned, to picture them in the " Gallery of the imagination." " Learning," says Ascham, " teacheth more in one year than experience in twenty; and learning teacheth safely when experience maketh more miserable than wise. He hazardeth sore that waxeth wise by experience. An unhappy shipmaster is he that is made cun- ning by many shipwrecks, a miserable mer- chant that is neither rich nor wise but after some bankrouts. It is costly wisdom that is
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CHAP.
bought by experience. We know by experi- ence itself that it is a marvellous pain to find out but a short way by long wandering. And surely he that would prove wise by ex- perience, he may be witty indeed, but even like a swift runner, that runneth fast out of his way, and upon the night, he knoweth not whither. And, verily, they be fewest in num- ber that be happy or wiser by unlearned expe- rience. And look well upon the former life of those few, whether your example be old or young, who without learning have gathered, by long experience, a little wisdom and some happiness : and when you do consider what mischief they have committed, what dangers they have escaped (and yet twenty to one do perish in the adventure), then think well with yourself, whether ye would that your own son should come to wisdom and happi- ness by the way of such experience or no."
The choice of books, like that of friends, is a serious duty. We are as responsible for what we read as for what we do. A good book, in the noble words of Milton, " is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, em-
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ON READING 145
balmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life."
Ruskin in his chapter on the Education of Girls well says, " Let us be sure that her books are not heaped up in her lap as they fall out of the package of the circulating library, wet with the last and lightest spray of the fount of folly."
To get the greatest amount, I will not merely say of benefit, but even of enjoyment, from books, we must read for improvement rather than for amusement. Light and en- tertaining books are valuable, just as sugar is an important article of food, especially for children, but we cannot live upon it.
Moreover, there are books which are no books, and to read which is mere waste of time ; while there are others so bad, that we cannot read them without pollution ; which if they were men we should kick into the street. There are cases in which it is well to be warned against the temptations and dangers of life, but anything which familiar- ises us with evil, is itself an evil.
So also there are others, happily many
146 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
others, which no one can read without being the better for them. By useful literature we do not mean that only which will help a man in his business or profession. That is useful, no doubt, but by no means the highest use of books. The best books elevate us into a region of disinterested thought where per- sonal objects fade into insignificance, and the troubles and the anxieties of the world are almost forgotten.
Interruptions at such a time are a positive cruelty, against which Hamerton makes a pathetic protest. "Suppose a reader per- fectly absorbed in his author, an author be- longing very likely to another age and another civilisation entirely different from ours. Suppose you are reading the Defence of Socrates in Plato, and have the whole scene before you as in a picture : the tribunal of the five hundred, the pure Greek archi- tecture, the interested Athenian public, the odious Melitus, the envious enemies, the be- loved and grieving friends whose names are dear to us and immortal ; and in the centre you see one figure draped like a poor man,
ix ON READING 147
in cheap and common cloth, that he wears winter and summer, with a face plain to downright ugliness, but an air of such genu- ine courage and self-possession that no act- ing could imitate it, and you hear the firm voice saying —
Tiju-arcu 8* ovv avrjp OavaTov • Ele*>.
You are just beginning the splendid para- graph where Socrates condemns himself to maintenance in the Prytaneum, and if you can only be safe from interruption till it is finished, you will have one of those noble minutes of noble pleasure which are the re- wards of intellectual toil."
No one can read a good and interesting book for an hour without being the better and the happier for it. Not merely for the moment, but the memory remains with us : stores of bright and happy thoughts which we can call up when we will.
"Even their phantoms rise before us,
Our loftier brethren, but one in blood ; At bed and table they lord it o'er us,
With looks of beauty and words of good."
148 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
Bret Harte, describing a scene at a miner's camp in the far West, says —
"The roaring camp fire, with rude humour, painted
The ruddy tints of health, On haggard face and form that drooped and fainted
In the fierce race for wealth. Till one arose, and from his pack's scant treasure
A hoarded volume drew, And cards were dropped from hands of listless leisure
To hear the tale anew. And then while round them shadows gathered faster,
And as the firelight fell, He read aloud the book wherein the master
Has writ of 'little Nell/ Perhaps 'twas boyish fancy — for the reader
Was youngest of them all, — But, as he read, from clustering pine and cedar
A silence seemed to fall, The fir-trees gathering closer in the shadow,
Listened in every spray,
While the whole camp, with 'Nell' on English meadows,
Wandered and lost their way."
•
English literature is the birthright and in- heritance of the English race. We have pro- duced and are producing some of the greatest of poets, of philosophers, of men of science. No race can boast a brighter, purer, or nobler
ix ON READING 149
literature, richer than our commerce, more powerful than our arms. It is the true pride and glory of our country, and for it we can- not be too thankful.
CHAPTER X
PATRIOTISM
IF ever there was a country for which a man might work with pride, surely it is our own.
"O England ! model to thy inward greatness Like little body with a mighty heart."
As regards size, a mere speck on the Ocean ; and yet more than half the ships on the Wide Seas fly the British Flag.
No doubt the geographical position is fa- vourable. Our climate is genial and yet brac- ing ; and the silver streak has saved us from many wars.
" This sceptr'd isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-Paradise, This fortress, built by Nature for herself 'Gainst infection, and the hand of war: 150
CHAP, x PATRIOTISM 151
This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall ; Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happy lands." 1
An orator in the United States is said to have described his country as being bounded on the South by the Equator, on the East by the Atlantic Ocean, on the North by the Aurora Borealis, and on the West by the setting sun'; we can say with more truth that the Sun never sets on the British Empire.
" Britannia needs no bulwarks, No towers along the steep, Her march is o'er the mountain waves, Her home is on the deep." 2
In the words of an American statesman, " Her flag waves on every sea and in every port, and the morning drum-beat of her sol- diers, following the sun and keeping company with the hours, circles the earth with one continuous strain of the martial airs of Eng- land."
But we may reflect with still greater sat- isfaction that our soldiers are everywhere
1 Shakespeare. 2 Campbell.
152 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
present not as enemies, but as friends and protectors. The motto of our Volunteers, "Defence, not Defiance," is equally applica- ble to our Army and Navy.
This great Empire has grown up gradually. We owe it to the energy and industry of our forefathers, and we must indeed be degener- ate, if we do not feel that " Come what Come may," we are bound to hand it down to our children, not merely unimpaired, but strength- ened and improved.
In our history there has no doubt been much to regret. But yet as contrasted with that of other nations, it has been compara- tively bloodless.
Apart from actual war, no country with so long a history has been stained by so little bloodshed; we have had no massacres, no Reign of Terror, no Sicilian Vespers.
In war we have shown much generosity to our enemies. At the end of the Great Struggle with Napoleon, when the power of France was crushed, and the Allies occupied Paris, we agreed to terms which left France her territories and colonies intact (on the sole
x PATEIOTISM 153
condition, as regards the latter, that she would agree to surrender the slave trade), and free from debt, while we ourselves had incurred one, mainly arising from the war, of over £900,000,000 ! When we look back on the terms, our statesmen behaved with a gener- osity which was perhaps hardly wise; and we can scarcely wonder that some Frenchmen claim Waterloo as a French victory. At any rate the terms of peace were far more favour- able to her than to us.
I have mentioned the restoration of the French Colonies — a small part of the ex- ertions and sacrifices made to put down this abominable traffic. We paid Portugal £300,000 and Spain £400,000 to induce those countries to give up the traffic. For more than half a century, at a time when we had a crushing debt, and were far less pros- perous or powerful than we are now, we kept a squadron on the West Coast of Africa, at an annual cost estimated by Mr. Gladstone when Chancellor of the Exchequer at £700,000 a year, and at a great sacrifice of valuable lives. We paid the West Indies and Mauri-
154 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
this £20,000,000 to free their slaves. Alto- gether the noble efforts to put down this abominable traffic must have cost the country something between £50 and £100,000,000 sterling.
Other countries have drawn a considerable portion of their revenue from their colonies and dependencies.
The Athenians exacted a large annual con- tribution from their allied states ; this formed, indeed, a very important portion of their revenue. With the Romans it was a cardi- nal principle of taxation that the provinces were to defray the expenses of the Empire. When they conquered Sicily they took a tenth of the field produce, and 5 per cent of the value of all exports and imports. Com- ing down to more recent times, other coun- tries — as, for instance, Spain, Portugal, and Holland — have derived considerable revenues from their colonial possessions.
Very different has been the conduct of England. So far from deriving any revenue from our Colonies, we have spent enormous sums of money for their benefit. So far as I
x PATRIOTISM 155
have been able to ascertain, no account has been published showing the amount spent by the mother-country in the Colonies before the year 1859 ; but from 1859 to 1869 it amounted to more than £41,000,000, and no doubt for many years previously the amount was much over £4,000,000 a year.
Moreover, the actual cost to the mother- country was considerably greater, because the return does not include the cost of arms, ac- coutrements, barracks, hospital, and other stores, nor any proportion for recruiting expenses, head-quarter expenses, or non- effective charges.
It may be said that our Mediterranean military expenditure can hardly be called " colonial," and it is of course true that we could not expect such stations as Malta and Gibraltar to pay their own expenses. On the other hand, our great reason for keeping them up is in order to protect our communi- cations with India and Australia ; and if we were disposed to do so, we might well ask why the burden of keeping up these commu- nications should fall altogether on us, — why
156 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
some part of the cost should not be borne by India and the Australasian colonies. More- over, the above-mentioned expenditure refers only to the troops on service out of the mother-country ; but inasmuch as even the troops at home are available in case of need (and after due provision has been made for our own safety) for colonial purposes, we might well expect to receive some contribu- tion towards the permanent expenses.
Our national accounts show no sum devoted nominally to naval expenses on account of our Colonies ; yet, in fact, this country bears almost the whole of the naval expenses, which, if the Colonies were independent, would fall on them. For them we act as the police of the seas ; their shores are pro- tected at our expense. What a saving this is to them, little consideration is required to show: 35,000,000 of Englishmen in Great Britain and Ireland pay £18,000,000 a year for naval purposes; 300,000,000 of our fellow-countrymen in the Colonies and India pay scarcely anything.
Take, again, the case of India. It is
x PATRIOTISM 157
hardly necessary to say that India makes no direct contribution to the general expenses of the Empire, nor to those home charges., from which she, like our Colonies, derives great advantage. No English labourer, no English tax-payer, derives a penny of direct advan- tage, or pays a penny less*towards the reve- nues of the country, because we hold India.
So far as military expenditure is concerned, the greatest care is taken that India should pay nothing beyond what is necessary for the troops actually on duty there. It is amusing, if so serious a subject can be amusing, to see how energetically the India Office resists any application made by the War Office for any charge beyond what the Indian authorities regard as absolutely necessary.
As regards the Navy also, India is treated with the utmost liberality. That she derives a great advantage from our fleet cannot be doubted. It saves her from a heavy expense, which she must have otherwise incurred ; she contributes to it, however, only the small sum of £70,000 a year, in addition to which she spends about half a million on steam-tugs,
158 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
inland vessels, pilotage allowances, port charges, etc.
Our honest effort and desire has been to govern India for the benefit of the people of India. We may have made mistakes there, as we have made mistakes at home, but these have been the principles on which we have governed India.
That they have benefited hitherto by our rule cannot, I think, be denied. Dr. Hunter1 tells us that in Orissa the Rajah's share was 60 per cent of the crop ; the mildest native governments took 33 per cent ; we take only from 3 to 7 per cent. No one can doubt that the taxes of our Indian fellow-countrymen are lighter, their lives and property more secure, than if they had remained under native rulers ; and it is at least certain that India does not contribute a penny to our English revenue. That we are loved in India cannot perhaps be maintained, and would be probably too much to expect. That our Government is respected will hardly be denied.
That our rule is moreover not unpopular
1 Our Indian Empire.
x PATRIOTISM 159
was, I think, clearly shown during the mutiny. Our countrymen behaved like heroes from the highest to the lowest, but yet if our Govern- ment had been characterised by avarice and injustice — if, on the whole, we had not been trusted and respected by the population of India — we must then have been swept into the sea. The bravery of our gallant troops, the skill of their officers, would, under such circumstances, have availed little. The peo- ple of India did not, however, take any active part against us, and their behaviour in that crisis was a magnificent testimony to the mode in which we have fulfilled our great trust.
An Eminent Frenchman, M. Barthelemy Saint Hilaire, late Foreign Secretary in M. Thiers' Government, has borne generous tes- timony to the beneficence and justice of our rule in India, which, he says, " merite que tous les amis de 1'humanite et de la civilisa- tion en souhaitent le succes. Faire T education politique et morale de deux cent cinquante millions de nos semblables est une tache pro- digieuse, qui, noblement commencee avec ce
160 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
siecle, exigera, pour 6tre entierement accom- plie, une suite d'efforts dont on ne saurait pre*ciser la duree." J We have to face, he truly says, a difficult problem, but it is very gratifying to be assured that we have the " applaudisseraents sinceres de tous les esprits Claire's et impartiaux." l
The opinion which other races have formed of our rule is well shown by the history of such cases as Hong-Kong and Singapore. In the former, says Mr. Wood, " we find a small barren island, which at the time of its cession to Britain, was inhabited by a few handfuls of fishermen, now crowded by tens of thou- sands of Chinese, who have crossed from the mainland because they know that under British rule they would be free from oppres- sive taxation, would be governed by just laws, and would be able to carry on a thriv- ing and profitable trade." Again, in the once almost uninhabited island of Singapore, we see a motley population attracted from China, the Malay peninsula, and India, by a similar cause.
1 Ulrule Anglaise.
x PATRIOTISM 161
Take, again, the case of Java. "During the five years of the British possession," says Heeren, " so wise and mild an administration was exercised that after the restoration it seems to have been difficult for the natives and Europeans to accustom themselves again to Dutch dominion. During the short time it was in the possession of Britain, a clearer light was shed over this remarkable island than was done during the two whole centuries of the dominion of Holland."
Passing to America, I may quote the strik- ing testimony of an American bishop, Bishop Whipple of Minnesota, who thus contrasts the relations between the United States and Great Britain with the Indians in their re- spective territories : —
" On one side of the line (he says) is a nation that has spent $500,000,000 in Indian wars ; a people that have not 100 miles be- tween the Atlantic and the Pacific which has not been the scene of an Indian massacre ; a Government which has not passed twenty years without an Indian war ; not an Indian tribe to whom it has given Christian civilisa-
162 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
tion ; and which celebrates its Centenary by another bloody Indian war. On the other side of the line are the same Anglo-Saxon race, and the same heathen. They have not spent one dollar in Indian wars, and have had no Indian massacres. Why ? In Can- ada the Indian treaties call these men 'the Indian subjects of her Majesty.' When civ- ilisation approaches them they are placed on ample reservations, receive aid in civilisation, have personal right in property, are amena- ble to law, and protected by law, have schools, and Christian people send them the best teachers."
It is sometimes said — most unjustly — that Ireland has been hardly dealt with. On the contrary, she has a much larger represen- tation than she is entitled to, either by popu- lation or by her contribution to the Imperial revenue ; her taxes are the same as ours, except that we pay some that are not levied in Ireland, namely, Land Tax, House Duty, Railway Tax, Assessed Taxes amounting to over £700,000 a year, and others; till this year her farmers have paid a lower rate of
x PATRIOTISM 163
Income tax than ours, and Irish land is taken at a lower figure for valuation than English ; she has had subventions in aid of rates far larger in proportion than England or Scot- land ; and liberal grants of money — as, for instance, £8,000,000 at the time of the famine. It is sometimes said that the duty on Spirits presses unduly on Ireland. But while the duty on Beer is almost entirely paid in Eng- land, even as regards the duty on Spirits, Great Britain pays 92 per cent, Ireland only 7 '90 per cent. I am sure it is the wish of Englishmen and Scotchmen to treat Ireland with justice and all reasonable liberality.
Peace, we know, hath her victories as well as war, and if we turn to the history of hu- man progress we have equal reason to be proud of our forefathers.
The English tongue is rapidly spreading and bids fair to become the general language of the human race. Yet it is not so very long ago that Bacon asked Dr. Playfair to translate The Advancement of Learning from English into Latin, because " the private- ness of the language wherein it is written,
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limits my readers," and its translation into Latin " would give a second birth of that work."1
No country can boast a brighter, purer, or nobler literature. Perhaps it may be said that as an Englishman I am prejudiced. By common consent, however, Shakespeare stands out unique and pre-eminent in the literature of the world. Chaucer, Bacon, Milton, Spen- cer, and many others, to say nothing of more recent authors, are also a glory to our nation. Recently a leading Italian Journal instituted a vote as to the best books in the world. A large number, indeed several hundred, sub- scribers gave their views, and out of the first eight books — one being the Bible — no less than four were English.
In the history of Invention and Discovery the name of Watt will be always associated with the Steam Engine, of Stephenson with the Locomotive, Wheatstone with the Elec- tric Telegraph, Arkwright with the Spinning Machine, Hargreaves with the Jenny, Fox Talbot with Photography.
1 Lord Playfair in University Extension Addresses.
x PATRIOTISM 165
In medicine the circulation of the blood was discovered by Harvey, Vaccination by Jenner, Anaesthetics were brought into use by Simpson, and the antiseptic treatment in cases of wounds and operations by Lister. In Science we have many great names : Bacon and Newton, Young and Darwin, Faraday, Herschel, and many others.
I do not mention these facts as any credit to us. They are a great honour to our fathers, and we are proud of them, but they impose on us a great responsibility.
Well then may we all join in Milton's prayer : " Oh Thou who of Thy free grace didst build up this Brittanick Empire to a glorious and enviable height, with all her daughter islands about her, stay us in this felicitie." But we must not be content to pray only for this great boon ; we must en- deavour to deserve it. We must remember that the deepest force is the stillest : that "not by material, but by moral force, are men and their actions governed." l
England has a right to expect that " every
i Carlyle.
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man will do his duty." She says to us all, " I have done all this for thee ; what hast thou done for me ? "
Indeed, when we look back on the whole history of the past, it is not, I think, too much to say that our country has exercised its great trust in a wise and liberal spirit, and governed the Empire in a manner scarcely less glorious than the victories by which that Empire was won. Is it a dream to hope that the time may come when the whole Eng- lish-speaking people may form one great nation !
I may perhaps be thought to be too partial to, and too proud of, my own country. The facts, however, speak for themselves. More- over, as Maurice well says, " that man is most just, on the whole, to every other nation, who has the strongest feeling of attachment to his own." The love of one's country elevates the conception of citizenship, raises us above the petty circle of personal and even family in- terests, to the true width and splendour of national life. The real imperial spirit is not one of vainglory, but of just pride in the ex-
x PATRIOTISM 167
tension of our language and literature ; of our people, and our commerce, on land and sea ; and a deep sense of the great responsibility thus imposed upon us.
CHAPTEK XI
CITIZENSHIP
WE are all part of the Government of the country, and one of the most important of our duties is to fit ourselves for that great respon- sibility. This requires study and thought as well as mere good- will. The very magnitude and extent of our Empire is itself a source of danger. We govern many races of men, some of them with ideas and aspirations very different from our own. Look at India. The population is nearly ten times as large as that of England, and is broken up into races very different. in race and creed. The true Hindoo belongs to the same great race of men as we do : he speaks a language not only 'similar in origin and in structure, but even retaining some of the same words. The word "poor," with which so many Indian words
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CHAP, xi CITIZENSHIP 169
end, corresponds to our " borough," and is as common a termination as with us. But the Hindoos are only a section of the Indian population ; they are more nearly allied to us in blood than to the Dravidian races of the South, or the Malayo-Chinese of the East, though time and distance have created great differences. They are in sharp religious con- flict with the Mahomedans, who were, and would probably be again if we left, the dom- inant power.
But India, though perhaps the greatest, is only one of our responsibilities. All over the world we come in contact with other great nations. Questions arise, and will continue to arise, which require tact, moderation, and forbearance on both parts. Our statesmen must know when to give way, and where to stand firm, and the people must know whom to support.
The history of Man has shown us a succes- sion of Great Empires which have crumbled to the dust. Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Rome, have risen and sunk. In more recent times Genoa and Venice have flourished to a great extent
170 THE USE OF LIFE
CHAP.
as we do now by " ships, colonies, and Com- merce." If we are to escape their fate, we must avoid their mistakes.
" A thousand years scarce serve to form a state ; An hour may lay it in the dust." l
As regards our foreign policy, it is no less our interest than our duty to maintain the most friendly relations with other countries. Nations often unfortunately regard others as enemies. And yet a clearer light shows that we are human, and ought to be friends. A Welsh preacher once illustrated this in a homely and yet striking manner. He was out walking one day, he said, and on the opposite hill he saw a monstrous figure ; as he approached he saw it was a man, and when he came up close, he found it was his brother.
Other nations are not only Men, but broth- ers, and their interests are in many ways bound up with ours. If they suffer, we suffer with them ; whatever benefits them, benefits us. The greatest of British interests are the peace and prosperity of the world. The
1 Byron.
xi CITIZENSHIP 171
glamour of War has dazzled the imagination of Mankind. We are told of the "pomp and circumstance of glorious war/' that every soldier carries a Field-marshal's Baton in his knapsack, etc., and we fail to realise the infi- nite misery which it has inflicted on the human race.
The carnage and suffering which war en- tails are terrible to contemplate, and constitute an irresistible argument in favour of Arbitra- tion. The present state of things is a disgrace to human nature. There may be some excuse for barbarous tribes who settle their disputes by force of arms, but that civilised nations should do so is not only repugnant to our moral, but also to our common sense. At present even the peace establishments of Europe com- prise 3,500,000 men ; the war establishments are over 10,000,000, and when the proposed arrangements are completed, will exceed 20,000,000. The nominal cost is over £200,- 000,000 annually, but as the Continental ar- mies are to a great extent under conscription, the actual cost is far larger. Moreover, if these 3,500,000 men were usefully employed, and
172 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
taking the value of their labour only at £50 a year, we must add another £175,000,000, bringing up the total expenditure of Europe on military matters to £375,000,000 a year ! Of course there are deeper and graver consid- erations than questions of money ; but yet money represents human labour and human life. It is impossible for any one to contem- plate the present naval and military arrange- ments without the gravest forebodings. Even if they do not end in war, they will eventually end in bankruptcy and ruin.
The principal countries of Europe are run- ning deeper and deeper into debt. During the last twenty years the debt of Italy has risen from £483,000,000 to £516,000,000 ; that of Austria from £340,000,000 to £5.80,000,000 ; of Russia from £340,000,000 to £750,000,000 ; of France from £500,000,000 to £1,300,000,- 000. Taking the Government debts of the world together, they amounted in 1870 to £4,000,000,000 — a fabulous, terrible, and crushing weight. But what are they now? They have risen to over £6,000,000,000, and are still increasing.
xi CITIZENSHIP 173
By far the greater part of this enormous, this appalling, burden is represented by no valuable property, has fulfilled no useful pur- pose ; it has been absolutely wasted, or what, from an international point of view, is even worse, thrown away on war, or in preparation for war. In fact, we never now have any real peace ; we live practically in a state of war, happily without battles or bloodshed, but not without terrible sufferings. Even in our own case, one-third of our national income is spent in preparing for future wars, another third in paying for past ones, and only one-third is left for the government of the country. Our in- terests at stake are enormous, and the interests of nations are so interwoven that every war now is in fact a civil war.
Though not a " peace-at-any-price man," I am not ashamed to say I am a peace-at- almost-any-price man. No doubt there are some vital question s- which cannot be referred to Arbitration, but Earl Russell, a very high authority, said that there had not been a war for the last hundred years which might not well have been settled without recourse to arms.
174 THE USE OF LIFE CHAP.
The last time I saw M. Gambetta, we talked over this subject, and he said in his usual ani- mated manner that if the present rate of ex- penditure be maintained the day will come when Frenchmen will all be " beggars in front of a barrack." It has not only been main- tained but increased.
The condition of Europe cannot be viewed without alarm. Russia is honeycombed with Nihilism, Germany alarmed with Socialism, France in a panic from Anarchy, and rapidly tending to bankruptcy. There is no justifica- tion, no excuse, for recent Anarchist crimes, but nothing happens in this world without a cause. Continental workmen are working terribly long hours for very low wages. If any one will read the recent reports from Italy he will see the miserable condition of agricultural labourers in that country; the wages of workmen in continental countries are very low, and their hours long ; while the small proprietors in France and elsewhere are no better off.
I sympathise very much with the desire for an eight hours' day, but the resolution passed
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in Hyde Park the year before last wisely in- sisted that it should be international. If, however, the present military system is main- tained no relaxation of hours is possible. The only way to secure the eight hours is to di- minish military expenditure. The necessary taxation to support the army and navy com- pels every man and woman in Europe to work an hour a day more than they other- wise need. In fact, the religion of Europe is not Christianity, but the Worship of the God of War. We cannot, alas ! prevent war, but we may at least throw our weight into the scale of peace ; endeavour ourselves to main- tain friendly relations with foreign nations, and treat them with courtesy, justice, and generosity.
Many countries attempt to wage war upon one another, quite as foolishly, by fiscal re- strictions.
Cowper observes that —
" Mountains interposed Make enemies of nations, who had else, Like kindred drops, been mingled into one."
But the worst barriers are those which nations
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CHAP.
have raised against one another: barriers of duties and customs, and worst of all, un- founded jealousies and ill-will, each attribut- ing to the other injurious designs, which neither of them perhaps in reality entertain.
The same spirit of jealousy and hostility which too often characterises international re- lations, sadly embitters also internal politics. But abuse is no argument ; it is rather a con- fession of weakness. Happy will it be for us when, as between party and party, between nation and nation, we lower and degrade our- selves to —
" No threat of war, no savage call
For vengeance on an erring brother,
But in their stead the Godlike plan
To teach the brotherhood of man
To love and reverence one another." ]
It is sometimes said that Revolutions are not made with rose-water. Greater changes, however, have been made in the constitu- tion of the world by argument than by arms ; and even where arms have been used, in most cases the pen has wielded the sword. Ideas are more powerful than bayonets.
1 Whittier.
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CITIZENSHIP 177
" In the comparatively early state of human advancement/' ,says Mill. " in which we now live, a person cannot, indeed, feel that en- tireness of sympathy with all others which would make any real discordance in the gen- eral direction of their conduct in life impos- sible ; but already the person in whom the social feeling is at all developed, cannot bring himself to think of the rest of his fellow- creatures as struggling rivals with him for the means of happiness, whom he must desire to see defeated in their object in order that he may succeed in his."
In order to perform the part of a citizen wisely and well it is needful, in the words of Burke, " carefully to cultivate our minds, to rear to the most perfect vigour and maturity, every sort of generous and honest feeling that belongs to our nature. To bring the disposi- tions that are lovely in private life into the service and conduct of the Commonwealth, so to be patriots and not to forget we are gentle- men. . . . Public life is a situation of power and energy; he trespasses against his duty who sleeps upon his watch, as well as he that
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goes over to the enemy." Think rather of performing your duties than of claiming your rights.
Lord Bolingbroke in his essay "On the Spirit of Patriotism " quotes with approba- tion a remark of Socrates that "though no man undertakes a trade he has not learned, even the meanest, yet every one thinks him- self sufficiently qualified for the hardest of all trades, that of Government." He said this upon the experience he had in Greece. He would not change his opinion if he lived now in Britain.
We have indeed a great variety of pressing problems. We are trying to educate our children, but probably no one would say that our system is yet perfect ; the straggles be- tween capital and labour are starving our commerce, hampering our manufactures, and if they continue will assuredly lower wages by checking the demand for labour ; the health of our great cities leaves much still to be desired ; in Science we have but made a beginning.
Moreover, apart from any question of prog-
xi CITIZENSHIP 179
ress, the daily life of the Community requires constant labour. The consultations of Parlia- ment, the conduct of local affairs, the ad- ministration of the Poor Law, — in fact, the affairs of the Community, as a whole, re- quire as much care and attention as those of Individuals, and the tendency, whether wisely or unwisely, is in the direction of increased communal organisation.
The poor again we have always with us, and it is greatly owing to the numerous charitable agencies, the greater sympathy between rich and poor, though partly also to our Poor Law, Free Trade, and the less unsatisfactory physical conditions, that there is no such feeling in favour of Socialism and Anarchy as exists in some other countries.
Enthusiasm no doubt is the lever which moves the world, but it is sad to reflect how much time and money have been wasted on vain experiments, — on experiments which have failed over and over again before, and which have been worse than useless, because they have done harm instead of good to those whom they were intended to benefit. It has
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hardly been sufficiently borne in mind that work for the poor demands an effort of the mind as well as a sentiment of good-will.
It is not money that is chiefly wanted. Thought and love are more than gold. Those who give time do more than those who give money. In fact, there is considerable danger that money and enthusiasm without experi- ence and training, may do more harm than good ; for more harm may come of work ill done than of work left undone.
It is much better to give hope and strength and courage, than money. The best help is not to bear the troubles of others for them, but to inspire them with courage and energy to bear their burdens for themselves, and meet the difficulties of life bravely. To help others is no easy matter, but requires a clear head, a wise judgment, as well as a warm heart.
We must be careful not to undermine inde- pendence in our anxiety to relieve distress. There is always the initial difficulty that whatever is done for men takes from them a great stimulus to work, and weakens the
xi CITIZENSHIP 181
feeling of independence ; all creatures which depend on others tend to become mere para- sites : it is important therefore, so far as possible, not so much to give a man bread, as to put him in the way of earning it, not to give direct aid, but to others to help them- selves. The world is so complex that we must inevitably all owe much to our neigh- bours, but as far as possible, every man should stand on his own feet.
We cannot expect others to conform to our ideal ; what we have to do is to help them to realise all that is best in their own ; to en- courage them in their efforts at self-improve- ment. Where money is unwisely given it is generally by those who are lavish, rather to save themselves trouble, than from any real sympathy, and yet work for the Community in the long run brings its own reward ; we probably derive more happiness from work for others, than from what we do for our- selves. To work for others consecrates even the humblest labour.
However lowly the work may be, throw your heart into it.
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" What part soever you have taken upon you," says Sir T. More, "play that as well as you can and make the best of it ... if you cannot, even as you wolde, remedy vices, which use and custom hath confirmed, yet for this cause you must not leave and forsake the common wealthe ; you must not forsake the shippe in a tempest, because you cannot rule and keep down the windes. . . . But study e and endeavour, as much as in you lyethe, to handle the matter wyttelye and handsornelye to the purpose, and that which you cannot turne to good, so to order that it be not very badde. For it is not possible for all things to be well unless all men were good. Whych," he adds, " I think will not be yet this good many years."
The more all men do their duty, however, the nearer, and the sooner, we shall approach it. Indeed we hardly perhaps realise how happy we might be if we would all try.
" We cannot all be heroes,
And thrill a hemisphere With some great, daring venture, Some deed that mocks at fear ;
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But we can fill a lifetime
With kindly acts and true. There's always noble service
For noble souls to do." l
It is a great privilege to be an Englishman. No country enjoys greater individual liberty.
Every man is equal before the Law.
Every man is accounted innocent until he is proved guilty.
No man is liable to be tried a second time for the same offence.
All trials must be in public, and the pris- oner is entitled to meet his accusers face to face.
No man is a judge in his own case, nor may he take the law into his own hands.
To work then for our country at whatever cost, or risk, is a solemn duty, and " he is not worthy to live at all, who for fear of danger or death, shunneth his country's service or his own honour, since death is inevitable, and the fame of virtue immortal." 2
Our country's service, however, in compara- tively few cases is one of danger. What it
1 C. A. Mason. 2 Sir H. Gilbert.
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demands is some sacrifice of our ease and leisure ; some time devoted to duties and work, which may seem unheroic and even tedious, but which are none the less neces- sary.
Public business — Committees, Elections, Meetings, Speeches, Vestries, County Councils — these are not very romantic ; they do not dazzle the imagination, or stir the blood, and yet a vote in peace is like a stroke in battle, and none the less effective because it is peace- ful and bloodless. The vote is not a right, but a duty ; and to prepare ourselves for giv- ing it is a duty also.
The amount of unpaid work which is done for the public is astonishing, and long may it continue so.
No one has any right to enjoy the benefit of all this labour without contributing if not his fair share, for some have not the same leisure or opportunities as others, but at any rate without contributing something to the common welfare.
"No man's private fortune," says Bacon, " can be an object in any way worthy of his
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existence." Houses and food and clothing are not the only things needful, nor are they even needful in the highest degree.
Even in the narrowest and most selfish point of view, time so spent will not be lost for " the love of our neighbour, the impulse towards action, help, and beneficence, the desire for stopping human error, clearing human confusion, and diminishing the sum of human misery, the noble aspirations to leave the world better and happier than we found it, — motives eminently such as are called social, and contribute not only to the happiness of others, but also to our own." l
There are blessings in life, said Bishop Butler, " which we share in common with others : peace, plenty, freedom, healthful seasons. But real benevolence to our fellow- creatures would give us the notion of a com- mon interest in a stricter sense : for in the degree we love another, his interest, his joys and sorrows, are our own.