Recreation is another name for amusement. Both words express the same idea. Recreation means to create over again, the building up of the system when it is exhausted. Amusement primarily is said to be derived from the halt which a dog makes in hunting, when he pauses to sniff the air in order to see in which way the scent lies. Having done this, he starts off again with redoubled speed. Both these words in themselves suggest the place that the things which they signify should occupy in life. They are for the refreshing of our strength, in order to renewed effort.
Recreation is a necessary part of life.—There are two great laws under which we live: the law of work and the law of recreation. Man has to work, and to work hard, in order to live. Work also is necessary to happiness. "He that labors," says the Italian proverb, "is tempted by one devil; he that is idle, by a thousand." The industrious life, it is perfectly plain (as we have shown in a previous chapter), is that which we should all follow. But recreation is as needful in its place as work. (a) This is the teaching of nature. God has made us capable of enjoying ourselves, just as He has made us able to think, or talk, or work with our hands. The first sign of intelligence in the infant is a smile. The child's nature unfolds itself in play, and as man grows up, it develops itself in many forms. The universe also is full of joy and gladness. The sky is blue, the sea glistens, the flowers are strewn over the earth. We speak of the waves playing on the shore, of the shadows playing on the mountain side. All this indicates that there is "a certain play element" that rejoices in the world around us. (b) This is the teaching of experience. Unvaried and unbroken toil becomes a sore burden; it breaks the spirit, weakens energy, and saddens the heart. "All work and no play," according to the proverb, "makes Jack a dull boy." There are men around us working so hard that they have no family life, no social life, no time for thought or for culture. They are simply cogs in a great wheel that is ceaselessly turning round and round—wearing themselves out before their time by excess of labor. This cannot be right. There is an interesting tradition of St. John, the disciple of our Lord, that while amusing himself with a tame partridge he was asked by a huntsman how he could spend his time in so unprofitable a manner. St. John replied, "Why dost thou not carry thy bow always bent?" "Because," answered the huntsman, "if it were always bent, I fear it would lose its spring and become useless." "Be not surprised then," replied the apostle, "that I should sometimes remit a little of my close attention of spirit to enjoy a little recreation, that I may afterwards employ myself more fervently in divine contemplation." It is said also of a most saintly man, Carlo Borromeo, that while engaged with some friends in a game of chess, the question was started, what they would do if they knew they were to die within the hour. "I would," said Borromeo, "go on with my game." He had begun it for God's glory, and in order to fit himself for God's work, and he would finish it. These anecdotes illustrate the truth that recreation is a necessary part of life, and may be engaged in with the highest object.
Recreation, therefore, is not to be regarded as an evil in itself—Men at different times have so regarded it. (a) Those who have been termed ascetics in the Church of Rome looked upon every form of amusement as sinful. Even to smile or laugh was a fault needing severe penance. They were "cruel to themselves," denied themselves all earthly joy, and placed vice and pleasure in the same category. (b) The Puritans also, in the time of the Stuarts, set their faces strongly against games and recreation of every kind. They denounced all public amusements, as Macaulay tells us, "from masques, which were exhibited at the mansions of the great, down to the wrestling matches and quoiting matches on the village green." (c) In all ages there have been good men animated by the same feeling. Life has seemed to them so serious as to have no place in it for mirth. Even one so saintly as Archbishop Leighton said that "pleasures are like mushrooms—it is so difficult to distinguish those that are wholesome from those that are poisonous, that it is better to abstain from them altogether." Those views have something noble in them. They spring from hatred of sin and from realizing intensely that
Recreation is liable to abuse.—It often leads to evil. It was the unbridled gaiety of the age, with its selfishness and sensuality, that made the Puritans denounce amusement, though the austerity they enforced led to dreadful consequences. Repression passed into excess. "It was as if the pent-up sewerage of a mud volcano had been suddenly let loose. The unclean spirit forcibly driven out by the Puritans returned with seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and the last state of Stuart England was worst than the first." The history of that period shows us the mistake religion makes by frowning down all amusements as sinful. But that some may be so is equally clear. They are so (a) when they are contrary to the express commands of the Word of God. There are pleasures which are in themselves unlawful, and which are condemned by the divine law. These, God's children will shun. They are forms of wickedness which they will ever hold in abhorrence. "The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life," with all that the words mean, though the world may regard them as pleasures, and engage in them as amusements, are evil before God. But not to dwell on this, which is evident, amusements are evil (b) when they unfit for work. "The end of labor," said the Greek philosopher Aristotle, "is to rest." It is equally true that "the end of rest is to labor." Pleasures that tempt us from daily duty, that leave us listless and weary, are pernicious. Outdoor games, for instance, ought to strengthen the physical frame, they ought to make us healthy and strong and ready for work. But when carried to excess they often produce the opposite result, and become positively hurtful. If the Saturday's play unfit for the worship and rest of the Lord's day; if an employer, as has been stated, has been obliged to dismiss his clerks more than once because of their incapacity for work owing to football matches, cricket matches, and sports generally, it is clear that these have not been for their good; and the same may be said of the effect of other forms of amusement, especially when carried to excess. The amusements that send us back to toil with a lightened heart and a vigorous mind are those only that we should engage in; all others are detrimental, and should be shunned. (c) It is necessary to say also that amusement in any form followed as the end of life becomes specially sinful. Even the heathen moralist, Cicero, could say "that he is not worthy to be called a man who is willing to spend a single day wholly in pleasure." How much more truly may a Christian feel that he "who liveth in pleasure is dead while he liveth." A life that is simply play, that is simply amusement, is no life at all. It is only a contemptible form of existence. "A soul sodden with pleasure" is a lost soul. To be a mere pleasure-seeker is not the chief end of man. Nothing grows more wearying than continuous amusement, and no one needs amusement so much as he who is always at it. He loses the power of real enjoyment. He has, like Esau, bartered his birthright for a mess of pottage. He is useless to man and guilty before God.
It is not easy to lay down distinct and definite rules in regard to recreation—to set down and catalogue those amusements which it is safe for us to follow, and those from which we should refrain. This has been attempted, but not successfully! and the reason is evident. What may be safe for one person may not be safe for another. If we are told that an amusement has been held to be wrong, we are ready to reply that the mere opinion of others is not binding upon us; and perhaps in our contempt for views which appear to us bigoted and straitlaced, we rush into the opposite extreme. The true guide in recreation is a Christian spirit. He who possesses it will need no list of what are lawful and unlawful made out for him. He will be better guided than by any carefully compiled code of duty set before him. All, therefore, that shall be attempted in this direction is to give a few general counsels which may be serviceable.
1. We should exercise our own judgment as to what amusements are helpful or the reverse. It has been said, "When you are in Rome, do as the Romans do." We would rather put the adage thus, "When you are in Rome, donotas the Romans do." There are questions which majorities may decide for us, and there are questions which every soul must decide for itself. That everybody goes to bull-fights in Spain does not make bull-fighting right; neither is an amusement right because it is popular. In this, as in other matters, we must dare sometimes to be singular. Follow not a multitude to do evil.
2. What is one man's meat is another man's poison. We are not a law to our neighbor, neither is our neighbor a law to us. The amusement that we find injures us, lowers our moral and spiritual tone, and unfits us for the serious business of life, is the thing for us to avoid, as we avoid food which some men can take with impunity, but which does harm to us.
3. Keep on the safe ground of certainty. Whatever is doubtful is dangerous, and had best be left alone. If we go skating, and have a suspicion that the ice in a certain spot is weak, that is sufficient to make us avoid it. Possibly we might pass over it without danger, but the thought that it may be dangerous leads us to give it a wide berth. "If you do not wish to hear the bell ring," says the proverb, "keep away from the bell rope." There is a sufficiency of amusements which are beyond doubt safe and satisfying, without our trying those that may be dangerous. The best recreation often comes from change of occupation, and there is none better than the companionship of books, the sweet solace of music, the softening influence of art, or the contemplation of the beauties of nature, "the melody of woods and winds and waters." There are fountains of joy open on every side of us, from which we may quaff many an invigorating draught, without drinking from those which are often poisoned and polluted.
4. The pleasure that is more congenial than our work is to be taken with caution. So long as a man enjoys his work more than his amusement, the latter is for him comparatively safe. It is a relaxation and refreshment, and he goes from it all the better for it; but if a man likes his pleasure better than the duties to which God has called him in the world, it is a sign that he has not realized, as he ought to realize, the object for which life was given him.
5. For the question, What is the harm? substitute, What is the good? The former is that which many ask in regard to amusements, and the very asking of the question shows that they feel doubtful about them and should avoid them. But when we ask, What is the good? it is a sign that we are anxious to know what benefit we may derive from them, and how far they may help us. That is the true spirit in which we should approach our amusements, seeking out those that recruit and refresh us mentally, morally, and physically.
Those are hints[1] which may be found useful. "Religion never was designed," it is said, "to make our pleasures less." Religion also, if we know what it means, will ever lead us to what are true, innocent, and elevating pleasures, and keep us from those that are false, bad in their influence, and which "leave a sting behind them." "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment." Let those who practise the first part of that text not forget the second.
[1] I am indebted for some of them to an article inThe Christian Union.
Books have an influence on life and conduct the extent of which it is impossible to estimate. "The precepts they inculcate, the lessons they exhibit, the ideals of life and character which they portray, root themselves in the thoughts and imaginations of young men. They seize them with a force which, in after years, appears scarcely possible." These words of Principal Tulloch will not appear too strong to any one who can look back over a long period of life. Such must ever feel that books have had a powerful effect in making them all that they are. There are many considerations that go to show the importance of books.
Books are the accumulated treasures of generations.—They are to man what memory is to the individual. If all the libraries in the world were burned and all the books in the world destroyed, the past would be little more than a blank. It would be a calamity corresponding to that of a man losing by a stroke the memory of past years. The literature of the world is the world's memory, the world's experience, the world's failures. It teaches us where we came from. It tells us of the paths we have travelled. Almost all we know of the history of this world in which God has placed us we know from books. "In books," as Carlyle says, "lie the creative Phoenix ashes of the whole past—all that men have desired, discovered, done, felt, or imagined, lie recorded in books, wherein whoso has learned the mystery of spelling printed letters may find it and appropriate it."
Books open to us a society from which otherwise we would be excluded.—They introduce us into a great human company. They enable us, however humble we may be, to hold converse with the great and good of past ages and of the present time—the great philosophers, philanthropists, poets, divines, travellers. We know their thoughts, we hear their words, we clasp their hands. The chamber of the solitary student is peopled with immortal guests. He has friends who are always steadfast, who are never false, who are silent when he is weary, who go forth with him to his work, who await his return. In the literature of the world a grand society is open to all who choose to enter it.
Books are the chief food of our intellectual life.—There are men that have, indeed, done great things who have read but little. These have had their want of mental training compensated by their powers of observation and experience of life. But they have been for the most part exceptional men, and it is possible they might have done better if they had studied more. To the great majority of men books are the great teachers, the chief ministers to self-culture. Books in a special manner represent intellect to those who can appreciate them. We cannot estimate in this aspect their importance. They are in regard to self-culture what Montaigne calls "the best viaticum for the journey of life." When we think of what we owe to them, we may enter into the feelings of Charles Lamb, who "wished to ask a grace before reading more than a grace before meat."
In regard to books, the practical questions that present themselves are, what we should read, and how we should read. The first question cannot be answered in any definite manner. (a) The enormous number of books in the world forbids this. Let any one enter a library of even moderate size, and he will feel how almost hopeless it would be, even if it were profitable, to draw out a practicable list of what may be advantageously chosen for reading and what may well be cast aside. (b) Still more does the infinite variety of tastes, circumstances: and talents, forbid the laying down of definite rules. Reading that might be profitable for one might not be so for another. Reading that would be pleasant to one would be to another weariness. Every class of mind seeks naturally its own proper food, and the choice of books must ultimately depend upon a man's own bias—on his natural bent and the necessities of his life. There are, however, one or two directions that may be given, and which may be profitable to young men.
First, We should read, as far as possible,the great books of the world. In the kingdom of literature there are certain works that stand by themselves and tower in their grandeur above all others. They are referred to by Bacon, in his weighty way, when he says: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, some few to be chewed and digested." This last class of books may be still spoken of as few. Various lists have lately been published of the best hundred books, according to the opinion of some of the greatest men of our time. There is considerable agreement among the writers as to what they consider the best books, and there is considerable difference also. It is easy to see how those who compiled these lists have been largely influenced in making their selection by their own peculiar tastes and fancies. Probably there is not one of their lists which any young man would care to follow out in its entirety. We give elsewhere the one which seems most likely to be useful to those into whose hands this text-book may probably come,[1] though it is evident that many young men might profitably leave out some of the books mentioned and substitute others. Still one thing is clear, that it is possible to make a selection of outstanding works in literature. After consultation with others better informed than himself, a young man can make a list suitable to his capacities and tastes, of books that really aregreatbooks, and in this way he may acquire knowledge that is worth having, and which will furnish a good and solid foundation for his intellectual culture. It is with books of this kind that he should begin, and a few such books thoroughly mastered will probably do him more good than all others that he may afterwards read.
It is hardly necessary to say that there isonebook that may be termed specially great, and which all young men should make the special subject of their study. (a) The Bible, even as a means of intellectual culture, stands alone and above all others. "In the poorest cottages," says Carlyle, "is one book wherein for several thousands of years the spirit of man has found light and nourishment, and an interpreting response to whatever is deepest in him." No man can be regarded as an educated man unless he is familiar with this book. To understand its history and position in the world is in itself a liberal education. Those who have been indifferent to its spiritual power and divine claims have acknowledged its great importance in regard to self-culture. "Take the Bible," says Professor Huxley, "as a whole, make the severest deductions which fair criticism can dictate for shortcomings and for positive errors, and there still remains in this old literature a vast residuum of moral beauty and grandeur; and then consider the great historical fact that for three centuries this book has been woven into the life of all that is best and noblest in English history; that it has become the national epic of Britain, and is familiar to noble and simple from John o' Groat's house to Land's End; that it is written in the noblest and purest English, and abounds in exquisite beauties of a mere literary form; and finally, that it forbids the merest hind who never left his village to be ignorant of the existence of other countries and other civilizations, and of a great past, stretching back to the furthest limits of the oldest nations of the world. By the study of what other book could children be so much humanized?" In these words we have a noble tribute to the intellectual greatness of the Bible. (b) But it has other claims upon us than its power to stimulate mental culture. It is inspired by God. "It is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." It is man's guide through the perplexities of life to the glory of heaven, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word."
Read then the great books of the world, and this book, the greatest of all.
Second, Another suggestion that we may make in regard to the use of books is thatwe should read from some centre or standpoint. A person takes a house in the country. This he makes the centre of many excursions. One day he climbs the mountain, another day he walks by winding stream, on another he sails along the shore. In this way he explores the surrounding country by degrees, coming back each night to the place he started from. We may do much the same thing with profit in our excursions among books. For instance, we may take the starting-point of ourprofession, and read all we can in regard to it. A farmer should read about farming, a lawyer about law, a divine about theology. Or we may take the starting-point of ourphysical frame, and read steadily all we can as to our bodily organisation and its laws; or we may take as our starting point thelandwe dwell in, or even the locality where we live, and seek to learn all we can regarding its history. In this way distinct lines of study are opened up to us, and we are saved the evil of desultory reading, which too often fills the mind only with a jumble of facts undigested and unarranged, and therefore of but little value. The writer knew a young minister in a Scottish manse who had among the few books in his library theEncyclopaedia Britannica. In this work he took up distinct courses of reading—a course of biography, a course of history, a course of geography—and in this way he acquired knowledge well systematized, which was of great value to him in his after life. We should endeavor, according to some such method as we have indicated, to carry on our reading. "Every man and every woman who can read at all should adopt some definite purpose in their reading, should take something for the main stem and trunk of their culture, whence branches might grow out in all directions, seeking air and light for the parent tree, which it is hoped might end in becoming something useful and ornamental, and which at any rate all along will have had life and growth in it." These words of Sir Arthur Helps put very tersely the point on which we have been insisting.
Third, We should read bookson the same principle as we associate with men. We only admit to our society those whom we deem worthy of our acquaintance, and from whose intercourse we are likely to derive benefit. We should do the same in regards to books. There are people who read books which, if they took to themselves bodily form and became personified, would be kicked out of their houses. Readers often associate in literature with what is vile and contemptible, who would never think of associating with people possessing a similar character. Yet the society of a weak or bad book is just as harmful to us in its way, and should be as little tolerated by us as the society of a weak or bad man. Indeed, between an author and a careful reader there is an intimacy established even closer than is possible in the intercourse of life, and evil books poison the springs of thought and feeling much more thoroughly than an evil acquaintanceship could do. We cannot be too strict, therefore, in applying to books the rules we follow in regard to society, and refusing our acquaintance to those books unworthy of it. (a) Such books may be known by reputation. We would not associate with a man of bad reputation, neither should we read a book of which the reputation is evil. (b) They may be judged of also by very slight experience. Very little tells us whether a man is worthy to be admitted to companionship, and very slight acquaintance with a book is sufficient to tell us whether it is worth reading. (c) But especially by beginning with those great authors that are beyond doubt high toned, "the master-spirits of all time," we shall acquire a power of discrimination. We shall no more care to read foul, impure, and unwholesome literature than a man brought up in the society of honorable men would choose to cast in his lot with thieves and blacklegs and the offscourings of society.
We have anticipated much that might be said in answer to the questionhowto read, and only a few words need be written in regard to it. (1) Read with interest. Unless a book interests us we do not attend to it, we get no benefit whatever from it, and may as well throw it aside. (2) Read actively, not passively, putting the book under cross-examination as we go along—asking questions regarding it, weighing arguments. Mere passive reading may do no more good than the stream does to the iron pipe through which it flows. Novel-readers are often mere passive recipients of the stories, and thus get no real benefit from them. (3) Read according to some system or method. (4) Read not always for relaxation, recreation, and amusement, but chiefly to enable you to perform the duties to which God has called you in daily life.
[1] See Appendix.
The words Family—Home—Household—all express one idea. They imply a relationship existing between certain individuals, a circle or sphere separate from the mass of human beings, within which there are special duties to be performed and a special life has to be lived. It is not necessary to define particularly what is meant by the word Family, for it is well understood by all of us.
Family life is peculiar to man.—The lower animals have nothing in all respects resembling it. In some particulars their mode of life occasionally approaches it, but not in all. The birds of the air, for instance, care tenderly for their offspring, but when these come to maturity the relation between them and their parents comes to an end. The family relation on the other hand lasts through life, and is only broken by the hand of death, if even then. The family has been instituted by God for the welfare of man. The condition in which we come into the world requires it—our training for the work of life demands it—it is specially adapted to promote the great ends of human existence.
Family life is that which most truly leaves its mark upon us.—In the family habits are formed which make us what we are for the rest of our life. Home influences accompany us to the very end of our journey. Let any one ask himself what are the chief sources of his virtues, and he will feel that a large proportion of them are derived directly or indirectly from association with his fellow-creatures in the family. The training of parents, the affection and influence of mothers and sisters, powerfully and lastingly affect our intellectual and moral nature. From a wise father we learn more than from all our teachers. When a celebrated artist, Benjamin West, was asked "What made him a painter?" his reply was, "It was my mother's kiss." "I should have been an atheist," said a great American statesman, "if it had not been for one recollection, and that was the memory of the time when my departed mother used to take my little hand in hers, and caused me on my knees to say, 'Our Father, who art in heaven.'" On the other hand, those who have been so unfortunate as to have had an unhappy home rarely emancipate themselves from the evil effects of their upbringing. If they do, it is after the severest struggle. "The child," it has been said, "is the father of the man," and it is in the family the child receives his first impressions for good or for evil. The world he first lives in is his home.
Family life supplies a great test of character.—When Whitefield was asked whether a certain person was a Christian, he replied, "I do not know. I have never seen him at home." People are often one thing in the world and another in their own family. In the close intercourse of the home circle they exhibit themselves in their true colors. A man who is a good son or a good brother is generally found to be a good man. If he is a source of evil in his own home, in his intercourse with the world he will, sooner or later, be found wanting.
It is beyond the scope of this book to dwell at length upon the duties incumbent on the various members of a family. It may be sufficient to indicate generally the feelings which should animate the young persons who belong to it. Probably most of those into whose hands this manual will come are members of a family. What should therefore be their conduct at home is a question that well deserves their consideration.
1.Obedienceis the fundamental principle of family life. Every family has a head, and that head must rule. "Order is heaven's first law." Where there is no obedience there can be no order in a family. The first form of authority which is placed before the child is that of the parent, and to the parent he has to be subject. "Children," says the apostle, "obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." Even for those members of a family who have grown out of the state of childhood obedience must be the rule, though in their case it is not to be, as in the case of the child, unquestioning obedience, but is to be founded on reason, affection and gratitude. With them obedience takes the form of reverence, or, to use a more familiar word, respect. The child is bound to obey his parent without hesitation or reply; the young man who has entered into greater liberty than the child will still respect his parents' wishes and cherish reverence for their authority. This feeling on his part is termed in the ScripturesHonor. "Honor thy father and thy mother" is one of the Ten Commandments, and can never cease to be included among moral and religious obligations. It is opposed to everything like unseemly familiarity, discourtesy of treatment, insolence in reply, or deliberate defiance. It implies respect for age and experience, and a sense of the great sacrifices a parent has made for his children's welfare. It is said that in our time the bonds of parental authority are being loosened, and that young men do not regard their parents with the deference that once was invariably shown towards them; that they do little to smooth the path of life for them when they grow old and weak, and are more ready to cast them on the public charity than to contribute to their support. Such a state of things would be shameful, if true. It would indicate a corruption of social life at the fountain-head that must lead to serious consequences. The family is the nursery both of the State and of the Church, and where the purity and well-being of family life is impaired, both State and Church are sure to suffer. There should be therefore an earnest and prayerful endeavor upon the part of the young to cherish towards their parents that loving sense of their superiority which is implied in the word Honor. "Let them learn first," says St. Paul (1 Tim. v. 4), "to show piety at home, and to requite their parents; for that is good and acceptable before God." There can be no more pleasing memory for a young man to have than this, that he has been a dutiful son; none more bitter than this, that he has set at defiance, or neglected, those to whom he owes so much.
2.Affectionis the atmosphere that should pervade the household. "Without hearts," it has been truly said, "there is no home." A collection of roots, and trunk, and branches, and leaves, do not make a tree; neither do a number of people dwelling together make a home. "A certain number of animal lives that are of prescribed ages, that eat and drink together, by no means makes a family. Almost as well might we say that it is the bricks of a house that make a home. There may be a home in the forest or in the wilderness, and there may be a family with all its blessings, though half its members be in other lands or in another world. It is the gentle memories, the mutual thought, the desire to bless, the sympathies that meet when duties are apart, the fervor of the parents' prayers, the persuasion of filial love, the sister's pride and the brother's benediction, that constitute the true elements of domestic life and sanctify the dwelling." [1] These beautiful words are true. It is love that makes home. The dweller, in a distant land sends again and again his thoughts across the sea, and reverts with fond affection to the place of his birth. It may be a humble cottage, but to him it is ever dear because of the love which dwelt there and united those who dwelt there by ties that distance cannot sever. Even the prodigal in the matchless parable of our Lord, herding with the swine and eating of their husks, was led to a higher and a better life by the remembrance of his father's house. A home without love is no home, any more than a body without a soul is a man. It is only a corpse.
3.Considerationfor those with whom we live in the family is the chief form which affection takes. Each member has to remember, not his own comfort and wants, but the comfort and wants of those with whom he dwells. His welfare as an individual he must subordinate to the welfare of the household. There are various forms which want of consideration takes, and all of them are detestable. (a) Tyranny, where the strong member of a family insists on the service of those weaker than himself. (b) Greed, where one demands a larger share of comfort, food, or attention than that which falls to the others. (c) Indolence, where one refuses to take his proper part in the maintenance of the family, spending his wages, perhaps, on his own pleasures, and yet expecting to be provided for by the labor of the rest. (d) Discourtesy, where, by his language and manners, he makes the others unhappy, and, perhaps, by his outbursts of temper fills the whole house with sadness. (e) Obstinacy, which will have its own way, whether the way be good or not. All these forms of selfishness are violations of the true law of family life, and render that life impossible. In the family, more than in any other sphere, everyone should bear the burdens of others. Everyone should seek, not his own, but another's welfare, and the weak and feeble should receive the attention of all.
4.Pleasantnessshould be the disposition which we should specially cultivate at home. If we have to encounter things that annoy and perhaps irritate us in the outer world, we should seek to leave the irritation and annoyance behind when we cross the threshold of our dwelling. Into it the roughness and bluster of the world should never be permitted to come. It should be the place of "sweetness and light," and every member may do something to make it so. It is a bad sign when a young man never cares to spend his evenings at home—when he prefers the company of others to the society of his family, and seeks his amusement wholly beyond its circle. There is something wrong when this is the case. "I beseech you," said one addressing youth, "not to turn home into a restaurant and a sleeping bunk, spending all your leisure somewhere else, and going home only when all other places are shut up." A young man, it is admitted, may find his home uninviting through causes for which he has not himself to blame. Still, even then he may do much to change its character, and by his pleasant and cheerful bearing may bring into it sunshine brighter than the sunshine outside.
5. The highest family life is that consecrated byReligion. The household where God is acknowledged, from which the members go regularly together to the house of God, within whose walls is heard the voice of prayer and praise, is the ideal Christian family. In such a family the father is the priest, daily offering up prayers for those whom God has given him, at the family altar. He makes it his duty, and regards it as his privilege to bring up his children in "the nurture and admonition of the Lord," and by personal example and teaching to train them up as members of the household of faith. Unlike those who leave the religious instruction of their children entirely to others, he loves to teach them himself. A household thus pervaded by a Christian atmosphere is a scene of sweet and tender beauty. Such a household is well depicted by our Scottish poet, Robert Burns, in his "Cotter's Saturday Night." There we see how beautiful family life may be in the humblest dwelling.
From scenes like these old Scotia's grandeur springs,That makes her lov'd abroad, rever'd at home.
[1] Dr. James Martineau.
The word church is derived from the Greek wordKuriakon, the Lord's (fromKurios, the Lord), and it has various significations. (a) Sometimes it means the whole body of believers on earth—"the company of the faithful throughout the world"—"the number of the elect that have been, are, and shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body and the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." [2] (b) Sometimes it is applied to a body of Christians differing from the rest in their constitution, doctrines, and usages; as, for example, the Church of Rome, the Greek Church, the Reformed Church. (c) Sometimes it refers to the Christian community of a country or its established religion, as when we speak of the Gallican Church, the Swiss Church, the Church of England, the Church of Scotland. (d) It is used in a still more limited sense to represent a particular congregation of Christians who associate together and participate in the ordinances of Christianity, with their proper pastors or ministers. (e) It is applied also to the building in which the public ministrations of religion are conducted, as when we speak of the church in such a street, St. James' church, St. Peter's church, etc.
In this chapter we use the word church in the fourth sense, as representing a particular congregation of Christians. To such a community every young man should belong, and in connection with it he is called to discharge certain special duties. There are four aspects in which the life of the Church, in this sense, may be regarded.
I. It represents Christian worship.—(a) Public worship seems essential to the very existence of religion. At least, every religion the world has seen has had its meetings for public rites and ceremonies. Faith unsupported by sympathy, as a rule, languishes and dies out in a community. Were our churches to be shut Sunday after Sunday, and men never to meet together as religious beings, it would be as though the reservoir that supplies a great city with water suddenly ran dry. Here and there a few might draw water from their own wells, but the general result would be appalling. (b) Public worship also strengthens and deepens religious feeling. A man can pray alone and praise God alone; but he is, beyond all doubt, helped when he does so in the company of others. He is helped by the conditions of time and place; and the presence and sympathy of his fellow-worshippers have upon him a mighty uplifting influence. (c) Above all, public worship is the channel through which we receive special blessings from God. There is communion in the sanctuary between us and Him. "The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Fatherseekethsuch to worship him." God desires our worship, and blesses it to us. That He does so has been the experience of Christians in all ages. They have found in the house and worship of God a strength and power that supported and blessed their life. They have realized that the promise of Christ is still fulfilled, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matt. xviii. 20.)
II. The Church represents Christian teaching.—In the congregation the Word of God is read and preached. (a) Preaching has always formed part of the service of the Christian Church from the very earliest times. In the second century Justin Martyr says: "On the day called Sunday, all who live in the cities or in the country gather into one place, and the memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read as time permits; then when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs and exhorts to the imitation of these good things." This description of an early Christian service is applicable still. Wherever the Church meets there is religious teaching. (b) And it is the only such teaching that multitudes receive. Without it they would be left to grope their way alone. (c) Whenever, therefore, there has been a revival of life in the Church, great stress has been laid upon the preaching of the Word of God, and God has specially blessed it to the conversion of sinners and the edification of His people.
III. The Church represents Christian fellowship.—(a) It keeps up the idea of brotherhood in the world. It brings people of different ranks and classes together, and that under most favorable circumstances. Whatever a man is in the world, in the Church he is made to feel that in the eye of God he is a member of one family, having the same weaknesses, the same sorrows, the same needs, the same destiny before him as those around him. In the Church "the rich and poor meet together" in equality before the same God, who is the Maker of them all. (b) But especially in its worship is the Church a common bond betweenbelievers. On one day of the week men of all nations, kindreds, peoples and tongues, a multitude whom no man can number, unite in spirit together. Their prayers and praises ascend in unison to the Throne of Grace. They enter into the "communion of saints." They belong to one holy fellowship. (c) At the table of the Lord they take their places as partakers of one life—as one in Christ. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are all partakers of that one bread." (1 Cor. x. 16, 17.)
IV. The Church represents Christian Work.—It is not merely a society for instruction or for the cultivation of devout feelings. It is an aggressive society. Every congregation of believers is a branch of the great army which is warring against the kingdom of darkness. Every individual is called upon to be a "fellow-laborer with Christ," and not merely to work out his own salvation, but to work for the salvation of others. The motto of every true Christian Church should be, "Work for everybody, and everybody at work." Those who may be able to do little as isolated individuals may do much by combining their efforts with those of others. The Church gives them the power and the opportunity.
We may now glance at some of the special duties incumbent upon those who are connected with the Church, and particularly upon young men.
1. We should be regular in availing ourselves of the means of grace which the Church affords. If it be the home of worship, of teaching, of fellowship, and of work, it is a home from which we should not make ourselves strangers. There is a blessing to be found there, and we are remiss if we do not seek it. Every young man should be a regular attendant on the ministrations of religion. He should be so (a) for his own sake, and (b) for the sake of others. He may perhaps have at times the feeling, I can get my worship in the fields and my teaching from my books; I can get along without the Church. But surely he undervalues the promised blessing to those who "forsake not the assembling of (themselves) together." Surely he undervalues the power, and strength, and comfort, that come from association with believers. But even if he could get on without the Church, is he not bound to consider others? Has any man in a world like ours, where all are bound together and are dependent on one another, any right to consider as to whether he can get on alone? Is he not bound to consider those around him? We must all feel that it would be a great calamity to a nation were public worship given up, churches closed, and Sunday made a day of recreation. But those who absent themselves from public worship are undoubtedly using their influence in that direction. If it be right for them to absent themselves, it must be right also for others to imitate them, and it is easy to see how disastrous generally such imitation would be.
Especially should every young man becomea communicantat the table of the Lord. Besides the many spiritual benefits of which the sacrament is the channel to every devout believer, it is an ordinance which is particularly helpful to the young. It leads them to make a decision, and decision gives strength. From the moment they deliberately and solemnly make their choice, there is a power imparted to their life that it had not before. In the life of the well-known Scotsman, Adam Black, it is said that shortly after he went up to London he became a communicant in the Church to which he belonged. "I found," he says, "this step gave a stability to my character, and proved a defence from follies and vices, especially as a young man in London, entirely my own master, with no one to guide or check me."
2. We should take each of us our full share in the work of our Church. It is a poor sign of a church when all the work done is by the minister, or by the office-bearers alone, and it is a still poorer sign of those who belong to it. It is a sign that they have not felt the power of that grace which ever leads the soul to put the question, "What wilt thou have me to do?" There are none who cannot do something. The writer read lately of a church in England, the grounds of which were regularly tended and made beautiful by the young men belonging to it. That may seem a small service, but it was something. It showed a good spirit. If we are to get the most out of the Church, we must help it to do its work—charitable, missionary, Sunday School, Young Men's Guild. If the best heart and talent of young men were put into these and other agencies, the power of the Church for good would be increased immeasurably, and not the least of the advantage would come to the workers themselves. Let each do his own part. There is one way, we need scarcely say, in which we can all help the Church's work: by giving to it "as the Lord hath prospered us." Under the Old Testament dispensation every one was under strict obligation to give a fixed proportion of his substance for religious purposes. Surely we should not be less liberal when the proportion is left to our own sense of duty. Freely we have received. Let us also freely give.
3. While loyal to our own Church, we should cherish towards all Christians feelings of charity and good-will. Many of us, probably most of us, belong to the Church to which our parents belonged; and so long as we feel it ministers to our spiritual benefit we should keep by it and work with it. There is little good obtained by running from church to church, and those who sever themselves from their early religious associations are often anything but gainers. But while we are loyal to our own regiment in the Christian army, and proud, so far as a Christian may be so, of its traditions and achievements, let us ever feel that the army itself is greater than our own regiment, and not only cherish good-will and brotherly love towards those who fight in that army, but be ready at all times to co-operate with them, and to fight with them against the common enemy. It is well to be a good churchman, it is infinitely better to be a good Christian. It is best when one is both; for indeed he is the best Christian who is the best churchman, and he is the best churchman who is the best Christian.
[1] The subject of "The Church, Ministry and Sacraments" is to be fully dealt with in a Guild text-book by the Rev. Norman Macleod, D. D. We only refer in this chapter to those phases of Church life that are more immediately connected with Life and Conduct.
[2]Confession of Faith.
Citizenship is derived from the Latin wordcivitas, the state, and comprehends the duties that are binding upon us as members of the state. The first question then that arises in considering these is, What do we mean by the state?
The state may be defined as the larger family.—The family is the origin of the state. (a) In early times government was of the simple kind that prevails in a family. The father was the head of the household and ruled over his children. As these grew up and had families of their own, they naturally looked to the aged head of the family, listened to his counsels, and were guided by his wisdom. Hence the first form of the state was the tribe or clan, and the first form of government waspatriarchal. The head of the family governed the tribe. (b) On the death of the patriarch it was necessary that a successor should be appointed. Sometimes he was the son of the patriarch or his nearest descendant. Sometimes he was chosen by the tribe as the strongest and bravest man and most competent to lead them against their enemies. Often tribes combined for mutual protection. Thus nations were formed, and the government passed from the patriarchal to themonarchicalform. The head was called theking, which literally means the "father of a people." We trace this growth in government in the history of the Israelites. First, we have the family of Israel in immediate relation with the patriarchs. As the Israelites grew and multiplied, they came under the leadership of Moses, who governed the tribes. Finally, when they settled in the land of Canaan, they became a nation, and were governed by a king. The kingdom was the expansion of the family. (c) In modern times there has been a further development. Government by a king or monarch was in the first instancedespotic. It is so in some cases—as in Russia at the present day. The will of the sovereign is the law by which the people are ruled. But just as a wise father relaxes his control over his full-grown sons, and admits them to a share in the government of the household with himself, so the people have in modern times been permitted to exercise power in the state. The head of the state remains, but the main power of government lies with the people. This form of government is calledconstitutional. In Great Britain we have alimited monarchy; the power of the sovereign is controlled by the will of the people, who have a large share in making the laws. In the United States of America, in France, and in other countries, we haverepublics, where the voice of the people is supreme, though at the head of the state is a president, elected by the people, and bound to carry out their wishes.
As the state is the larger family, the duties of those who compose it correspond with those belonging to the members of a household.
1. There is the duty of loyalty or patriotism. The first duty of the member of a family is love of home and of those who belong to it. However poor or humble it may be, he feels bound to it by no ordinary ties. He defends its interests. Above all other households, he loves his own the best. The first duty of the citizen is of the same kind. He loves his land; his own country is dearer to him than any other on earth. He is ready to defend it even with his life. The words of Sir Walter Scott, as of many another poet, express this patriotic feeling:
Breathes there the man with soul so dead,Who never to himself hath said,This is my own, my native land,Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned,As home his footsteps he hath turned,From wandering on a foreign strand.
Many have died for their country's sake, and in all ages this has been thought a specially noble death. History records with affection the names of such men as Wallace, Bruce, William Tell, and Garibaldi, who sacrificed very much for the land they loved. And as "peace has its victories no less renowned than those of war," it has been the pride of others to serve their country by guarding its liberties, increasing its happiness, diminishing its evils, reforming its laws. Theflagof a country is the symbol, to those who belong to it, of their common inheritance. Brave men will follow it through the shot and shell of battle. Men have wrapt it round their breasts, and have dyed its folds with their heart's blood to save it from the hands of the enemy; and wherever it waves it calls forth feelings of loyalty and allegiance.
2. Another primary duty of citizenship is obedience to the law. Here again we have the rule of the family extended to the state. The child is bound to obey his parents unless they bid him do what his conscience clearly tells him is wrong; so, a good citizen will obey the laws of his country, unless these laws are so evidently unjust that the good of all demands that they should be resisted. Whatever the law is, he will endeavor to respect and obey it. If he believes it to be an unjust or unrighteous law, he will do his best to get it amended or abolished. It is only in an extreme case, though this opens a subject on which we cannot enter, that he can be justified in refusing obedience. "Let every soul," says Scripture, "be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves condemnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. . . . Wherefore, ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake."
3. It is a duty of citizenship to see that the laws are reasonable and just. In a family, the grown-up members will use their legitimate influence to promote the wise regulation of the household, that there may be peace and harmony. The same desire will animate the members of the state. (a) This is specially incumbent upon those who, like ourselves, live under constitutional government. With us, government is not the prerogative of the Crown, or of a few families; or of men of rank or wealth. It is notdespotic, oraristocratic, orplutocratic, butdemocratic—that is to say, it is in the hands of the people, or of those of the people to whom it has been entrusted, and who form a large proportion of the male inhabitants of the country; on them devolves the making of the laws by which the country is governed. They are bound to do their best to see that these laws are what they should be—equitable and righteous, and for the interest of the whole community. (b) This they can only do through their representatives. We could conceive of a state so small that each of its members could take a direct part in its government. That is not the case with us, and the people can only exercise their control through those they authorise to represent them. These they elect, and in electing them are bound to see that they are men who are worthy of the trust committed to them, who will make laws good for every class. This applies not only to the election of members of Parliament, but wherever the representative principle is carried out, as in the case of councils, school boards, and other forms of local government. Wherever a man exercises the privilege of choosing a representative, he is bound to do so conscientiously, and with an earnest desire to perform what is right. It is a maxim in law that what we do by another we do ourselves. We are responsible for those whom we choose to make our laws, and if we help to choose unworthy men we cannot be held blameless of the consequences that may follow. (c) As it is our duty to exercise this privilege of citizenship rightly, we are also bound not to refrain from exercising it. We hear people say sometimes that they have nothing to do with politics. But by keeping altogether aloof they cannot rid themselves of their responsibility. By abstaining they may do almost as much to further the views they disapprove of as by taking an active part in promoting them. If there are evils in connection with government, the best way to get rid of them is for good men to take a part in public life, and try to bring about a better state of things. In a free country no man can shake off his obligations by refraining from taking part in public affairs. The talent that is entrusted to us we are bound to use for the glory of God and the good of man. Our political power, however small, is such a talent, and we are responsible for its proper employment.
4. It is a duty of citizenship to take direct part in all that we believe is for the good of the state. We say a direct part, as distinguished from the indirect part we take in government through representatives. A man's duty as citizen does not end with the ballot-box, or with the election of members either to the national or local council. A great part of the business of the nation is carried on by the voluntary efforts of its members. There are men and women that have no part in representative government, who yet can discharge nobly the duties of citizenship. (a) All can take a part in forming a healthy public opinion. This is done in all free countries in various ways: through the press, through public meetings, and by means of the speech and communications of everyday life. If our views are those of a minority, we may help, by our influence, our example, the fearless expression of our convictions, to turn the minority into a majority; and in a democratic country the views of the majority will ultimately prevail. (b) We can also take direct part in promoting objects that tend to the well-being of society. Much is left by the state to voluntary effort by its members. The state undertakes the defence of the country by the army and navy, the relief of the poor, and the elementary education of the people; but beyond these and other instances of direct state action there is much left to be done by the people themselves, and for themselves. The Volunteer movement, in which men take part of their own free will, and which has been of so much benefit to the country; the erection and support of hospitals, libraries, art galleries, colleges and universities; the furnishing of the people with amusement and recreation—are illustrations of what may be done by members of the community directly. All such efforts tend to the welfare of the state. All its members reap benefit from them. He who does not help and encourage them is as mean as the man who would go to an hotel and take its entertainment, and then sneak away without paying the reckoning. Whatever we can do to benefit society benefits ourselves, and in throwing ourselves heart and soul into any of those enterprises that benefit society we are discharging in a very special way the duties of good citizenship.
It only remains to say in a word that our citizenship should be the outcome of our religion. Without that, citizenship loses its high position. He who fears God will honor the king, and he who "renders to God the things that are God's" will "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." He will give "to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor." Religion thus becomes the strength of the state, and "righteousness exalteth a nation."
The following is the list of the best hundred books referred to inChapter XIII. It is by Professor Blackie, Edinburgh, author ofSelf-Culture, and is given with his kind consent.
The Bible.Homer.Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians.Max Von Dunche's History of the Ancient World.Plutarch's Lives.Herodotus.History of Greece—GroteorCurtius.History of Rome—ArnoldorMommsen.Menzel's History of the Germans.Green's History of the English People.Life of Charlemagne.Life of Pope Hildebrand.The Crusades.Sismondi's History of the Italian Republics.Prescott's America.Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella.Italy, byProfessor Spalding.Chronicles, byFroissart.The Normans—FreemanandThierry.Motley's Dutch Republic.Life of Gustavus Adolphus.The French Revolution—Thiers, Carlyle, Alison.Bourrienne's Life of Napoleon.Wellington's Peninsular Campaign.Southey's Life of Nelson.America—Bancroft.The Stuart Rising of 1745, byRobert Chambers.Carlyle's Life of Cromwell.Foster's Statesmen of the Commonwealth.Life of Arnold—Stanley.Life of Dr. Norman Macleod.Life of Baron Bunsen.Neander's Church History.Life of Luther.History of Scottish Covenanters—Dodds.Dean Stanley's Jewish Church.Milman's Latin Christianity.
The Bible.Socrates or Plato and Xenophon.Marcus Aurelius Antoninus' Meditations.Epictetus Seneca.The Hitopadion and Dialogues of Krishna.St. Augustine's Confessions.Jeremy Taylor.Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.Martineau.Aesop's Fables.
Homer.Virgil.Dante.The Niebelungen Lay.The Morte D'Arthur.Chaucer.Shakespeare.Spenser.Goethe—Faust, Meister, and Eckermann's Conversations.Milton.Pope.Cowper.Campbell.Wordsworth.Walter Scott.Burns.Charles Lamb.Dean Swift, "Tale of a Tub" and "Gulliver's Travels."Tennyson.Browning.Don Quixote.Goldsmith, "Vicar of Wakefield."George Eliot.Dickens.Robinson Crusoe.Andersen's Fairy Tales, "Mother Bunch."Grimm's Popular Songs and Ballads, especiallyScotch, English, Irish and German.
Ferguson's History of Architecture.Ruskin.Tyrwhitt.
De Tocqueville.John Stuart Mill.Fawcett.Laveleye.Adam Smith.Cornewall Lewis.Lord Brougham.Sir J. Lubbock.
J. G. Wood's Books on Natural History.White's Natural History of Selbourne.Geology—Hugh Miller, Ramsey, Geikie, Ansted.Botany—General Elements of British.Science of Language—TrenchandFarrar, Max Müller.Taylor's Words and Places.
In every variety; especially the old collections.
The following is a list of works upon topics treated in this text-book, which have been consulted in its preparation, and which may be useful to students:
Self-Culture, by John Stuart Blackie. Edinburgh: David Douglas. Twentieth edition. 1892.
Plain Living and High Thinking, or Practical Self-Culture—Moral, Mental and Physical, by W. H. Davenport Adams. London: John Hogg, Paternoster Row. 1880.
The Secret of Success, by W. H. Davenport Adams. London: John Hogg, Paternoster Row. 1880.
The Threshold of Life, by W. H. Davenport Adams. T. Nelson & Sons, Paternoster Row. 1876.
On the Threshold, by Theodore T. Munger. London: Ward, Lock & Co. 1888.
Beginning Life, by John Tulloch, D.D. London: Chas. Burnet & Co. 1883.
Life: a Book for Young Men, by J. Cunninghame Geikie. London: Strahan & Co. 1870.
The Gentle Life, by J. Hain Friswell. London: Sampson Low & Marston. 1870.
Self-Culture, by James Freeman Clarke. Boston: J. R. Osgood & Co. 1881.
Life Questions, by M. J. Savage. Boston: Lockwood, Brooks & Co. 1879.
Elements of Morality, for Home and School Teaching, by Mrs. Chas. Bray. London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1863.
The Family and its Duties, by Robert Lee, D.D. London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1863.
Christianity in its Relation to Social Life, by Rev. Stephen J. Davis. London: Religious Tract Society.
Home Life, by Marianne Farningham. London: James Clarke & Co.
The Domestic Circle, by the Rev. John Thomson. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co. 1886.