Life and Conduct Part 3

I. Money itself is neither good nor bad.--It is simply force. It is like the lightning or the sunlight: it withers or nourishes; it smites or does other bidding; it devastates or fertilizes, according as it is used by us. Whether money is good or bad depends on whether it is sought for in right or wrong ways, used wisely or unwisely, squandered where it does harm, or bestowed where it does good. (_a_) That it may be a power for good is evident to all. It enables men to benefit their fellow-creatures; it gives a man independence; it procures him comforts he could not otherwise have obtained. It is, as it has well been termed, "the lever by which the race has been lifted from barbarism to civilization. So long as the race could do nothing but barely live, man was little more than an animal who hunted and fought for his prey.

When the race began to think and plan and save for tomorrow, it specially began to be human. There is not a single feature of our civilization to-day that has not sprung out of money, and that does not depend on money for its continuance." (_b_) That money may be a power for evil is equally evident. Much of the crime and sin and sorrow of the world spring from its misuse. "The love of money," as Scripture says, "is a root of all evil." In the haste to be rich men too often lose their very manhood. Money, it is often said, does wonders, but "the most wonderful thing that it does is to metalize the human soul."

II. Money and our relation to it is a test of character--The making and the using of it is an education. If we know how one gets and spends money, we know what a man is. "So many are the bearings of money upon the lives and characters of mankind, that an insight which would search out the life of a man in his pecuniary relations would penetrate into almost every cranny of his nature. He who, like St.

Paul, has learnt how to want and how to abound, has a great knowledge; for if we take account of all the virtues with which money is mixed up--honesty, justice, generosity, charity, frugality, forethought, self-sacrifice, and their correlative vices--it is a knowledge which goes to cover the length and breadth of humanity, and a right measure and manner in getting, saving, spending, taking, lending, borrowing and bequeathing would almost argue a perfect man." [1] Nearly all the virtues and all the vices are connected with money. Its acquisition and its distribution are almost certain indications of what we are morally.

III. There are some things that are better than money, and that cannot be purchased with it--These are indeed the best things. All that can be bought money possesses actually or potentially, but there are some things that cannot be bought. Love, friendship, n.o.bleness of soul, genius, cannot be purchased. We must estimate rightly the power of money. It is great, but it may be exaggerated, (_a_) _Honesty_ is better than money. If a man gains money at the expense of honesty and integrity, he pays too great a price. He is like a savage who barters jewels for a string of beads. (_b_) _Home_ is better than money. If a man, struggling and striving to be rich, has no time for the joys of family and the rich blessings that circle round the fireside, if he knows nothing of the charm of love and the pleasures that spring from the affections, he pays too great a price--"a costly house and luxurious furnishings are no subst.i.tute for love in the home." (_c_) _Culture_ is better than money. If a man grows up in ignorance and vulgarity, shut out from the world of art, literature and science, and all that refines and elevates the mind--a rude, uncultured boor--he pays too great a price for any money he may sc.r.a.pe together. (_d_) _Humanity_ is better than money. The rich man who leaves Lazarus untended at his gates, who builds about him walls so thick that no cry from the suffering world ever penetrates them, who becomes mean and stingy, close-fisted and selfish, pays too great a price. Of such a man it is said in Scripture that "in h.e.l.l he lifted up his eyes."

Surely he made a bad bargain, (_e_) _Spirituality_ is better than money. He who has made an idol of his wealth, who in gaining it has lost his soul, who has allowed money to come between him and G.o.d, has paid too great a price for it. He has well been depicted by John Bunyan as the man with the muck-rake gathering straws, whilst he does not see the golden crown that is held above him. Christ tells us G.o.d regards such a man as a fool.

There are certain rules of conduct which may be laid down, drawn both from Scripture and experience, in regard to money.

1. _We are especially to remember our stewardship_.--Money is a trust committed to us, for which we are to give account unto G.o.d. We are answerable to Him for the use we make of it. If we have ama.s.sed wealth, from G.o.d has come the power that enabled us to do so. All we have is His--not our own. To each of us shall be addressed the words, "Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward." If we remember this great truth we shall be rightly guided, both in regard to the acc.u.mulation and the distribution of money. We shall not inordinately desire it, for we shall feel that with its increase comes new responsibility; and we shall be careful how we spend it, for the question will ever be present to our minds, What would the great Master, to whom we have to give account, wish us to do with it?

Those who have most wisely used their money are the men who have realized most intensely the thought of their stewardship. In the "Life of Mr. Moore," the successful merchant, by Smiles, this is most admirably shown. He ama.s.sed, by industry and by enterprise, great wealth; he lived a n.o.ble and benevolent life; he was honored by all men for his character and his generosity. But at the root and foundation of his life was the thought that all he had was a trust committed to him by G.o.d.

2. _We should do good as we go_.--There are those who allow that they should do good with their money, but they defer carrying out their intention till they have acc.u.mulated something that they think considerable. If they ever become rich, then they will do great things. The folly of this is apparent, (_a_) They lose the happiness which the humblest may daily reap from small deeds of kindness; and (_b_) they lose the power which will enable them to do anything if the great opportunity they desire comes. "Doing good," it has been well said, "is a faculty, like any other, that becomes weak and atrophied, palsied for lack of use. You might as well stop practising on the piano, under the impression that in a year or two you will find time to give a month to it. In the meantime, you will get out of practice and lose the power. Keep your hand and your pocket open, or they will grow together, so that nothing short of death's finger can unloose them."

[2] However little money we may have, we should use a portion of it in doing good. The two mites of the widow were in the eye of Christ a beautiful offering. Giving should always go with getting. Mere getting injures us, but giving brings to us a blessing. "Gold," says holy George Herbert, "thou mayest safely touch; but if it stick it wounds thee to the quick." George Moore, to whom we have referred, wrote yearly in his diary the words of wisdom--

What I saved I lost, What I spent I had, What I gave I have.

What proportion of our money we should give every one must determine for himself, but we are not safe spiritually unless we cultivate the habit of generosity. "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver." "There are many," it has been satirically said, "who would be Good Samaritans without the oil and the two pence." All of us, however humble our station, are bound to give "as G.o.d hath prospered us" for the help of man and the cause of Christ; and the discharge of the obligation will become to us one of the greatest pleasures in life.

3. _We should cultivate thrift_.--Thrift is just forethought. It is reasonable prudence in regard to money. It provides for "the rainy day." If poverty be our lot, we must bear it bravely; but there is no special blessing in poverty. It is often misery unspeakable. It is often brought upon us by our self-indulgence, extravagance and recklessness. We are to use every means in our power to guard against it. The words of the poet Burns are full of common-sense:

To catch Dame Fortune's golden smile, a.s.siduous wait upon her, And gather gear by every wile That's justified by honor; Not for to hide it in a hedge, Nor for a train attendant, But for the glorious privilege Of being independent.

The squalor and wretchedness which often fall upon people come from their not having exercised a little thought in the use of their money.

A little self-denial would have saved them, and those depending on them, from many sorrows. A saving habit is good. "It is coa.r.s.e thinking to confound spending with generosity, or saving with meanness." The man who puts by a little week by week or year by year, against possible contingencies is wise. However small may be our salary and limited our income, we should try and save part of it.

Every young man should be a member of a savings bank, or a benefit club, by means of which he can make provision for the future. The honest endeavor to make such provision is in itself an education.

4. _We should earnestly endeavor to avoid debt_.--Debt means slavery.

It is loss of independence. It is misery. "He" (says a Spanish proverb) "that complains of sound sleep, let him borrow the debtor's pillow." Every shilling that we spend beyond our income means an addition to a burden that may crush us to the ground. "Pay as you go,"

is a good rule. "Keep a regular account of what you spend," is another. "Before you buy anything, think whether you can afford it,"

is a third. But whatever rule we follow in regard to our expenditure, let us see that it does not exceed our income. The words of Horace Greeley, a great American writer and politician who had a large experience of life, are not too strong: "Hunger, cold, rags, hard work, contempt, suspicion, unjust reproach, are disagreeable, but debt is infinitely worse than them all. Never run into debt! Avoid pecuniary obligation as you would pestilence or famine. 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."

5. _We should resolutely set our face against gambling_.--Gambling is one of the curses of our time. It is the endeavor to get money by dispensing with labor, to make it without honestly working for it. It entails widespread ruin and degradation. Its consequences are often of the most appalling character. When the gambling spirit is once aroused, like drunkenness, it becomes an overpowering appet.i.te, which the victim becomes almost powerless to resist. Gambling is in itself evil, apart from its deadly effects. (_a_) It proposes to confer gain without merit, and to reward those who do not deserve a reward, (_b_) It proposes to benefit us while injuring our neighbor. "Benefit received," says Herbert Spencer in his _Sociology_, referring to gambling, "does not imply effort put forth; but the happiness of the winner involves the misery of the loser. This kind of action is therefore essentially anti-social, sears the sympathies, cultivates a hard egoism, and produces general deterioration of character and conduct." The young should specially guard against this vice, which has been a rock upon which many a promising life has made disastrous shipwreck.

[1] Sir Henry Taylor, _Notes from Life_.

[2] _Life Questions_, by M. J. Savage.

CHAPTER VI.

TIME.

"Time," it is said, "is money." So it is, without doubt. But to the young man or young woman who is striving to make the most of himself or herself time is more than money, it is character and usefulness. They become great and good just as they learn how to make the best use of their time. On the right employment of it depends what we are to be now, and what we are to be hereafter, "We all complain," says the great Roman philosopher Seneca, "of the shortness of time, and yet we have more than we know what to do with. Our lives are spent either in doing nothing at all, or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we ought to do. We are always complaining that our days are few, and acting as though there would be no end of them."

In regard to the right use of time--how to make the most of it and to get the most out of it--there are certain things that we should bear in mind and keep in constant remembrance. We may arrange them for convenience under four heads: _Economy, System, Punctuality and Prompt.i.tude_.

I. Economy.--We all know what economy is. In regard to money, in connection with which the word is chiefly used, it is keeping strict watch over our expenditure, and not spending a penny without good reason. According to the oft-quoted proverb, "Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves." Economy, in regard to time, is to watch over the minutes, hours and days, and the years will take care of themselves. It is, to let every moment of time be well employed; to let every hour of the day as it pa.s.ses be turned to use; to let none be spent in idleness or folly. It is a good advice that of the poet--

Think nought a trifle though it small appears, Sands make the mountain, moments make the years, And trifles life.

In the mint, where money is coined, when the visitor reaches the room where the gold coins are cast, it is said that the floor is a network of wooden bars to catch all the particles of the falling metal. When the day's work is done, the floor is removed and the golden dust is swept up to be melted again. In the same way we should economize time: gather up its golden dust, let none of its moments be lost. Be careful of its spare minutes, and a wealth of culture will be the result. It is said of a European cathedral that when the architect came to insert the stained-gla.s.s windows he was one window short. An apprentice in the factory where the windows were made came forward and said that he thought he could make a window from the bits of gla.s.s cast aside. He went to work, collected the fragments, put them together, and produced a window said to be the finest of all. In the same way men have made much out of the bits of time that have been, so to speak, broken from the edges of a busy life.

Many ill.u.s.trations might be given from history of what men have been able to do by a wise economy of time. Sir Humphry Davy established a laboratory in the attic of his house, and when his ordinary day's work was done began a course of scientific studies that continued throughout his memorable life. Cobbett learned grammar when a soldier, sitting on the edge of his bed. Lincoln, the famous president of America, acquired arithmetic during the winter evenings, mastered grammar by catching up his book at odd moments when he was keeping a shop, and studied law when following the business of a surveyor. Douglas Jerrold, during his apprenticeship, arose with the dawn of day to study his Latin grammar, and read Shakespeare and other works before his daily labor began at the printing office. At night, when his day's work was done, he added over two hours more to his studies. At seventeen years of age he had so mastered Shakespeare that when anyone quoted a line from the poet he could give from memory that which came next. While walking to and from his office Henry Kirke White acquired a knowledge of Greek. A German physician, while visiting his patients, contrived to commit to memory the _Iliad_ of Homer. Hugh Miller, while working as a stonemason, studied geology in his off hours. Elihu Burritt, "the learned blacksmith," gained a mastery of eighteen languages and twenty-two dialects by using the odds and ends of time at his disposal. Franklin's hours of study were stolen from the time his companions devoted to their meals and to sleep.[1] Many similar instances might be added to show what may be done by economising time and strictly looking after those spare minutes which many throw away.

The great rule is, never to be unemployed, and to find relief in turning from one occupation to another, due allowance of course being made for recreation and for rest. The wise man economises time as he economises money.

II. System.--It is wonderful how much work can be got through in a day if we go by rule--if we map out our time, divide it off and take up one thing regularly after another. To drift through our work, or to rush through it in _helter skelter_ fashion, ends in comparatively little being done. "One thing at a time" will always perform a better day's work than doing two or three things at a time. By following this rule one person will do more in a day than another does in a week. "Marshal thy notions," said old Thomas Fuller, "into a handsome method. One will carry twice as much weight trussed and packed as when it lies untoward, flapping and hanging about his shoulders." Fixed rules are the greatest possible help to the worker. They give steadiness to his labor, and they enable him to go through it with comparative ease.

Many a man would have been saved from ruin if he had appreciated the value of method in his affairs. In the peasant's cottage or the artisan's workshop, in the chemist's laboratory or the shipbuilder's yard, the two primary rules must be, "For every one his duty," and, "For everything its place."

It is a wise thing to begin the day by taking a survey in thought of the work we have to get through, and thus to divide it, giving to each hour its own share. The shortest way to do many things is to do one thing at a time. Albert Barnes was a distinguished American theologian who wrote a valuable commentary on the Bible amid the work of a large parish. He accomplished this by systematic arrangement of his time.

He divided his day into parts. He devoted each part to some duty. He rigidly adhered to this arrangement, and in this way was able to overtake an amount of work that was truly wonderful. In the life of Anthony Trollope, the great novelist, we are told that he kept resolutely close to a rule he laid down for himself. He wrote so many pages a day of so many lines each. He overtook an immense amount of work in the year. He published many books, and he made a great deal of money. The great English lawyer Sir Edward c.o.ke divided his time according to the well-known couplet--

Six hours in sleep, in law's grave study six, Four spend in prayer, the rest on nature fix.

Sir William Jones, the famous Oriental scholar, altered this rule to suit himself.

Seven hours to law, to soothing slumber seven, Ten to the world allot, and all to Heaven.

Benjamin Franklin's system of working is given in his "Life." Each day was carefully portioned off. His daily programme was the following:

Morning. ) Rise, wash, and address the 5 ) Almighty Father; contrive [Question, What good 6 ) the day's business and take shall I do this day?] 7 ) the resolution of the day; ) prosecute the present study, ) breakfast.

8 ) to ) Work 11 )

12 ) Read or look over accounts and Noon. to ) dine.

1 )

2 ) Afternoon, to ) Work 5 )

6 ) Put things in their place; Evening to ) supper; music or diversion or [Question, What good 9 ) conversation; examination of have I done to-day?] ) the day.

10 ) Night to ) Sleep.

4 )

It is evident that a scheme of life like this could not suit everyone.

It is given as an ill.u.s.tration of the value of adhering to method in our work. "Order," the poet Pope says, "is Heaven's first law," and time well ordered means generally work well and thoroughly done.

III. Punctuality.--This means keeping strictly as to time by any engagement we make either with ourselves or with others. If we resolve to do anything at a certain time, we should do it neither before nor after that time. It is better to be before than after. But it is best to be at the very minute. If we enter into an engagement with others for a certain time, we should be precise in keeping it. In a letter from a celebrated merchant, Buxton, to his son, he says, "Be punctual; I do not mean merely being in time for lectures, but mean that spirit out of which punctuality grows, that love of accuracy and precision which mark the efficient man. The habit of being punctual extends to everything--meeting friends, paying debts, going to church, reaching and leaving place of business, keeping promises, retiring at night and rising in the morning." We may lay down a system or method of work for ourselves, but it will be of little service unless we keep carefully to it, beginning and leaving off at the appointed moment. If the work of one hour is postponed to another, it will encroach on the time allotted to some other duty, if it do not remain altogether undone, and thus the whole business of the day is thrown into disorder. If a man loses half an hour by rising late in the morning, he is apt to spend the rest of the day seeking after it. Sir Walter Scott was not only methodical in his work, he was exceedingly punctual, always beginning his allotted task at the appointed moment. "When a regiment," he wrote, "is under march, the rear is often thrown into confusion because the front does not move steadily and without interruption. It is the same thing in business. If that which is first in hand be not instantly despatched, other things acc.u.mulate betimes, till affairs begin to press all at once, and no brain can stand the confusion." We should steadily cultivate the habit of punctuality. We can cultivate it until it becomes with us a second nature, and we do everything, as the saying is, "by clockwork." In rising in the morning and going to bed, in taking up different kinds of work, in keeping appointments with others, we should strive to be "to the minute." The unpunctual man is a nuisance to society. He wastes his own time, and he wastes the time of others; as Princ.i.p.al Tulloch well says, "Men who have real work of their own would rather do anything than do business with him." [2]

IV. Prompt.i.tude.--By this we mean acting at the present moment--all that is opposed to procrastination, putting off to another time, to a "convenient season" which probably never comes--all that is opposed also to what is called "loitering" or "dawdling." There is an old Latin proverb, "_Bis dat qui cito dat,_"--he gives twice who gives quickly. The same thing may be said of work, "He works twice who works quickly." In work, of course, the first requirement is that it should be well done; but this does not hinder quickness and despatch. There are those who, when they have anything to do, seem to go round it and round it, instead of attacking it at once and getting it out of the way; and when they do begin it they do so in a listless and half-hearted fashion. There are those who look at their work, according to the simile of Sidney Smith, like men who stand shivering on the bank instead of at once taking the plunge. "In order," he says, "to do anything that is worth doing in this world, we must not stand shivering on the bank thinking of the cold and the danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can. It will not do to be perpetually calculating and adjusting nice chances; it did all very well before the Flood, when a man could consult his friends upon an intended publication for a hundred and fifty years, and then live to see its success for six or seven centuries afterwards, but at present a man doubts, and waits, and hesitates, and consults his brother, and his uncle, and his first cousin, and his particular friends, till one day he finds that he is sixty-five years of age, that he has lost so much time in consulting first cousins and particular friends that he has no time to follow their advice." This is good sense, though humorously put. Prompt.i.tude is a quality that should be a.s.siduously cultivated.

Like punctuality, it becomes a most valuable habit. "Procrastination,"

it is said, "is the thief of time," and "h.e.l.l is paved with good intentions." These proverbs are full of wisdom. When we hear people saying, "They are going to be this thing or that thing; they _intend_ to look to this or to that; they will by and by do this or that," we may be sure there is a weakness in their character. Such people never come to much. The best way is not to _speak_ about doing a thing, but _to do it_, and to do it _at once_.