Chapter IX: MONEY,—USE AND ABUSE
(2017-04-08 03:24:44)HOW a man uses money—makes
it, saves it, and spends it—is perhaps one of the best tests of his
practical wisdom. Although money ought by
no means to be regarded as the chief end of man's life, neither is
it a trifling matter, to be held in philosophic contempt,
representing as it does to so large an extent, the means of physical
comfort and social well-being. Indeed,
some of the
finest qualities of human nature are intimately related to the
right use of money, such as generosity, honesty, justice, and
self-sacrifice; as well as the practical virtues of economy and
providence. On the other hand, there
are their counterparts of avarice, fraud, injustice, and
selfishness, as displayed by inordinate lovers of gain; and the
vices of thriftlessness, extravagance, and improvidence,
on the part of those who misuse and abuse the means intrusted to
them. "So that," as is wisely observed by Henry Taylor in his
thoughtful "Notes from Life," "a right measure and manner in
getting, saving, spending, giving, taking, lending,
borrowing,
Comfort in worldly circumstances is a condition which every man is justified in striving to attain by all worthy means. It secures that physical satisfaction which is necessary for the culture of the better part of his nature; and enables him to provide for those of his own household, without which, says the Apostle, a man is "worse than an infidel." Nor ought the duty to be any the less indifferent(pleasing) to us, that the respect which our fellow-men entertain for us in no slight degree depends upon the manner in which we exercise the opportunities which present themselves for our honorable advancement in life. The very effort required to be made to succeed in life with this object, is of itself an education; stimulating a man's sense of self-respect, bringing out his practical qualities, and disciplining him in the exercise of patience, perseverance, and such like virtues. The provident and careful man must necessarily be a thoughtful man, for he lives not merely for the present, but with provident forecast makes arrangements for the future. He must also be a temperate man, and exercise the virtue of self-denial, than which nothing is so much calculated to give strength to the character. John Sterling says truly, that "the worst education which teaches self-denial, is better than the best which teaches everything else, and not that." The Romans rightly employed the same word (virtus) to designate courage, which is in a physical sense what the other is in a moral; the highest virtue of all being victory over ourselves.
What is the quality in
which the improvident
classes of this country are
so deficient as self-denial,—the
Of all great public
questions, there is none more important than this,—no great work of
reform calling more loudly for laborers. But it must be admitted
that "self-denial and self-help" would make a poor rallying cry for
the hustings; and it is to be feared
that the patriotism of this day has but little regard for such
common things as individual economy and
providence,
It is, however, generally felt to be a far easier thing to reform the constitution in Church and State than to reform the least of our own bad habits; and in such matters it is usually found more agreeable to our tastes, as it certainly is the common practice, to begin with our neighbors, rather than with ourselves.
Any class of men that lives
from hand to mouth will ever be an inferior class. They will
necessarily remain impotent and helpless, hanging on to the skirts
of society, the sport of times and seasons. Having no respect for
themselves, they will fail in securing the respect of
others.
In commercial crises, such men must inevitably go to the wall.
Wanting that husbanded power which a store of savings, no matter
how small, invariably gives them, they will be at every man's
mercy, and, if possessed of right feelings, they cannot but regard
with fear and trembling the future possible fate of their wives and
children. "The world," once said Mr. Cobden to the working men of
Huddersfield, "has always been
divided
Equally sound was the
advice given by Mr. Bright to an assembly of working men at
Rochdale, in 1847, when, after expressing his belief that "so far
as honesty was concerned, it was to be found in pretty equal amount
among all classes," he used the following words:
"There
is only one way that is safe for any man, or any number of men, by
which they can maintain their present position if it be a good one,
or raise themselves above it if it be a bad one,—that is, by the practice
of the virtues of industry, frugality,
temperance, and honesty. There is no royal road by
which men can raise themselves from a position which they feel to
be uncomfortable and unsatisfactory, as regards their mental or
physical condition, except by the practice of those virtues by
which they find numbers amongst them are continually advancing and
bettering themselves. What is it that has made, that has in fact
created, the middle class in this country, but the virtues to which
I have alluded? There was a time when there was hardly any class in
England, except the highest, that was equal in condition to the
poorest class at this moment. How is it that the hundreds of
thousands of men, now existing
There is no reason why the
condition of the average workman in this country should not be a
useful, honorable, respectable, and happy one. The whole body of
the working classes might (with few exceptions) be as frugal,
virtuous, well-informed, and well-conditioned as many individuals
of the same class have already made themselves. What some men are,
all without difficulty might be. Employ the same means, and the
same results will follow. That there should be a class of
men who live by their daily labor in every state is the ordinance
of God, and doubtless is a wise and righteous
one; but
that this class should be otherwise than frugal, contented,
intelligent, and happy, is not the design of
Providence,
Economizing one's means with the mere object of hoarding is a very mean thing; but economizing for the purpose of being independent is one of the soundest indications of manly character; and when practised with the object of providing for those who are dependent upon us, it assumes quite a noble aspect. It is the exhibition of self-help in one of its best forms. Francis Horner's father gave him this good advice on first entering life: "Whilst I wish you to be comfortable in every respect, I cannot too strongly inculcateeconomy. It is a necessary virtue to all; and however the shallow part of mankind may despise it, it certainly leads to independence, which is a grand object to every man of a high spirit." Burns's lines, above quoted, contain the right idea; but unhappily his strain of song was higher than his practice; his ideal better than his habit. When laid upon his death-bed he wrote to a friend, "Alas! Clarke, I begin to feel the worst. Burns's poor widow, and half a dozen of his dear little ones helpless orphans;—there I am weak as a woman's tear. Enough of this;—'tis half my disease."
Every man ought so to
contrive as to live within his
means. This practice is of the
very essence of honesty. For if a man do not manage
honestly to live within his
The proverb says that
"an
empty bag cannot stand
Dr. Johnson held that early debt is ruin. His words on the subject are weighty, and worthy of being held in remembrance. "Do not," said he, "accustom yourself to consider debt only as an inconvenience; you will find it a calamity. Poverty takes away so many means of doing good, and produces so much inability to resist evil, both natural and moral, that it is by all virtuous means to be avoided....Let it be your first care, then, not to be in any man's debt. Resolve not to be poor; whatever you have, spend less.Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues impracticable and others extremely difficult. Frugality is not only the basis of quiet, but of beneficence. No man can help others that wants help himself; we must have enough before we have to spare."
It is the bounden duty of
every man to look his affairs in the face, and to keep an account
of his incomings and outgoings in money-matters. The exercise of a
little simple arithmetic in this way will be found of great
value. Prudence requires that we
shall pitch our scale of living a degree below our means, rather
than up to them; but this can only be done
by carrying out faithfully a plan of living by which both ends may
be made to meet. John Locke strongly advised this course:
"Nothing," said he, "is likelier to keep a man within compass than
having constantly before his eyes the state of his affairs in a
regular course of account." The Duke of Wellington kept an accurate
detailed account of all the moneys received and expended by him. "I
make a point," said he
Admiral Jervis, Earl St.
Vincent, has told the story of his early struggles, and, amongst
other things, of his determination to keep out of debt. "My father
had a very large family," said he, "with limited means. He gave me
twenty pounds at starting, and that was all he ever gave me. After
I had been a considerable time at the station [at sea], I drew for
twenty more, but the bill came back protested. I was mortified at
this rebuke, and made a promise, which I have ever kept, that I
would never draw another bill without a certainty of its being
paid. I immediately changed my mode of living, quitted my mess,
lived alone, and took up the ship's allowance, which I found quite
sufficient; washed and mended my own clothes; made a pair of
trousers out of the ticking of my bed; and having by these means
saved as much money as would redeem my honor, I took up my bill;
and from that time to this I have taken care to keep within my
means." Jervis for six years endured
It is a great point for young men to begin well; for it is in the beginning of life that that system of conduct is adopted, whichsoon assumes the force of Habit. Begin well, and the habit of doing well will become quite as easy as the habit of doing badly. Well begun is half ended, says the proverb; and a good beginning is half the battle. Many promising young men have irretrievably injured themselves by a first false step at the commencement of life; while others, of much less promising talents, have succeeded simply by beginning well, and going onward. The good practical beginning is, to a certain extent, a pledge, a promise, and an assurance, of the ultimate prosperous issue. There is many a poor creature, now crawling through life, miserable himself and the cause of sorrow to others, who might have lifted up his head and prospered, if, instead of merely satisfying himself with resolutions of well-doing, he had actually gone to work and made a good practical beginning.
Too many are, however, impatient of results. They are not satisfied
to begin where their fathers did, but where they left off. They
think to enjoy the fruits of industry without working for them.
They cannot wait for the results of labor and application, but
forestall them by too early indulgence. A worthy Scotch couple,
when
Mr. Hume hit the mark when he once stated in the House of Commons—though his words were followed by "laughter"—that the tone of living in England is altogether too high. Middle-class people are too apt to live up to their incomes, if not beyond them; affecting a degree of "style" which is most unhealthy in its effect upon society at large. There is an ambition to bring up boys as gentlemen, or rather "genteel" men; though the result frequently is, only to make them gents. They acquire a taste for dress, style, luxuries, and amusements, which can never form any solid foundation for manly or gentlemanly character; and the result is, that we have a vast number of gingerbread young gentry thrown upon the world, who remind one of the abandoned hulls sometimes picked up at sea, with only a monkey on board.
There is a dreadful ambition abroad for being "genteel." We keep up
appearances, too often at the expense of honesty; and, though we
may not be rich, yet we must seem to be so. We must be
"respectable," though only in the meanest sense,—in mere vulgar
outward show. We have not the courage to go patiently onward in the
condition of life in which it has pleased God to call us; but must
needs live in some fashionable state
to
The late Sir Charles
Napier, in taking leave of his command in India, did a bold and
honest thing in publishing his strong protest, embodied in his last
General Order to the officers of the Indian army, against the
"fast" life led by so many young officers in that service,
involving them in ignominious
obligations.
Sir Charles strongly urged, in that famous document,—what had
almost been lost sight of,—that "honesty is inseparable from the
character of a thorough-bred gentleman;" and that "to drink
unpaid-for champagne and unpaid-for beer, and to ride unpaid-for
horses, is to be a cheat, and not a gentleman." Men who lived
beyond their means, and were summoned, often by their own servants,
before Courts of Requests for debts contracted in extravagant
living, might be officers by virtue of their commissions, but they
were not gentlemen. The habit of being constantly in debt, the
Commander-in-Chief held, made men grow callous to the proper
feelings of a gentleman. It
The young man, as he passes
through life, advances through a long line of tempters ranged on
either side of him; and the inevitable effect of yielding, is
degradation in a greater or less degree. Contact with them tends
insensibly to draw away from him some portion of the divine
electric element with which his nature is charged; and his only
mode of resisting them is to utter and to act out his "No" manfully
and resolutely. He must decide at once, not waiting to deliberate
and balance reasons; for the youth, like "the woman who
deliberates, is lost." Many deliberate, without deciding; but "not
to resolve,
Hugh Miller has told how,
by an act of youthful decision, he saved himself from one of the
strong temptations so peculiar to a life of toil. When employed as
a mason, it was usual for his fellow-workmen to have an occasional
treat of drink, and one day two glasses of whiskey fell to his
share, which he swallowed. When he reached home, he found, on
opening his favorite book,—"Bacon's Essays,"—that
the letters
danced before his eyes, and that he could no
longer master the sense. "The condition," he says, "into which I
had brought myself was, I felt, one of degradation. I had sunk, by
my own act, for the time, to a lower level of intelligence than
that on which it was my privilege to be placed; and though the
state could have been no very favorable one for forming a
resolution, I in that hour determined that I should never again
sacrifice my capacity of intellectual enjoyment to a drinking
usage; and with God's help, I was enabled to hold by the
determination." It is such decisions as
this that often form the turning-points in a man's life, and
furnish the foundation of his future character. And this rock, on which
Hugh Miller