MASTER NEGATIVE NO. 93-81546- MICROFILMED 1993 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES/NEW YORK as part of the . . n •^^+» "Foundations of Western Civilization Preservation Project £#nV^or the humanities Reproductions may not be made without permission from Columbia University Library COPYRIGHT STATEMENT Th. eoDvriaht law of the United States • Title 1 7, United itetesSSde - concerns the making of photocop.es or ISer reproductions of copyrighted matenal. Under certain conditions specified in the law, "buries jnd a^r-lt i^'authorlz^ to^j^h ^^^^^^^^ Z^oi o?h"e"lprorult&V° ^rT" '" '"' S involve violation of the copyright law. A UTHOR: HITTELL, JOHN SHERTZER TITLE: A CODE OF MORALS PLACE: SAN FRANCISCO DATE: 1890 ; COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT DIDLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARHFT Master Negative ft Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record t ^AL tLiiicLI ,- Joirn 5U er-l- z&r 'J20 H63 podc of mo-rals. San FVa-ndisco 1590. 5. tioisiG 2.<='ed, 54p. u Restrictions on Use: TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA REDUCTION RATIO: ^^ FILM SIZE: AP.^^ IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA © IB IIB DATE FILMED: l_]r-5A IN1TIALS__S>S FILMED BY: RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS. INC WOOnBRlDGE7cT _ r Association for Information and Image Management 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1100 Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 301/587-8202 Centimeter 1 23456789 lllllilllllllllll I I I itTh1'Th'i'Th'l'i'^i'i''i'?V.''riV.'' i''i^i'f?'!^?f?f'i'i' 12 3 4 10 11 12 13 14 15 mm Ulllllllllllllllllll r Inches 1.0 I.I 1.25 M 2.8 ^ IIIIlM 6.3 i 3.6 40 2.5 2.2 1.4 2.0 1.8 1.6 ITT " l'i " l'i "h"h" l I MfiNUFflCTURED TO PIIM STRNDfiRDS BY RPPLIED IMflGE, INC. 170 H&3 in tlj« ®itu j?f |l«n> Dork GIVEN BY M.Day. ' i 1 .S >':> ' } } -» ^ ', J* ^ •» J J J J , * . J J J J J J > J J > » > > i . , J i 3 J ) ) > ) 3 } i } i } J J > ' 1 i > i J 1 ) i I i > ■'jJ J J J V J > y J i i J i 'J } J ) J J ) ' J J > I J > J J J ' J > > A CODE OF MORALS BY JOHN S. HITTELL Second Edition ^ Rerised San Francisco THK BANCROFT COMPANY 1890 • •-••• •• • • • * • • • • - • • • • • • • • t • ' • « • • • • - ... ••• • • • • « • • • • • " K,.tcred according to tl.e Act ol Congress, in the year im BY JOHN S. HITTELI- ,„ the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington 1 D 3^ E «3 cr> CO CONTENTS. OHAPTEK I.— INDIVimiAI. DUTIES. Section 1 Morality. 2 A Moral System. a Golden Rule. 4 Standard of Truth. 5 Moral Independence. G Misrepresentation. Section 7 Evil. 8 Death. 9 Self-Respect. 10 Develop Yourself. 11 Resist Evil. 12 SURROUNDlNfJS. CHAPTEU Il.-SOCIAI. I>UTTES. 13 JUSTICE. 1^ Apology. 14 REWARD. 19 Equality. ir, Alms. 20 Disputation. 16 Cheerfulness. -1 Woman. 17 Vanity. CHAFTEll IIT.-INDUSTllIAL I>UTIES. 22 MoNEy. 28 Specialty. 21 Wealth. 25 Debt. CHAPTEK IV 80 International. 31 Greatest Good. 32 Communism. 26 Poverty. 27 Wait. 28 Industrial Freedom. 29 Explicit Contr.acts. rOLITICAI. I>UTIES. 34 l^IBERTY. 35 Tyrannk'al Capital. 36 Education. 33 Anarchy. CHAPTER v.— KELIOIOUS DUTIES, 37 Respect Your Body. 42 No Sacred Institution. 38 Meliorism. 43 Truth. 39 Use of Evil. 44 Martyrdom. 40 Depravity. 45 Conclusion. 41 Defective Institutions. * ' r ) B REFRCE tHE manuals of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, though admirable in spirit and form, and the best works of their kind, were not complete moral codes when first published, and seem less complete now on account of the numerous and great indus- trial, social, political and religious changes of the last seventeen centuries. Standing on the shoulders of the men who wrote those immortal books making use of their labors, and striving to appropriate the knowledge of our time and to put myself in harmony with its spirit, I have here tried to do for my age what they did for theirs. JOHN S. HITTELL San Francisco, Jan. 24, 1890 •» J ' ■» , J ' -' ■' > i j » > > J > ) .1 ' J ^ i J i i i J i : J > ('.' ; > * J J i J MORALS CHAPTER I. il Individual Duties. § I. Afora/?(y. — Morality, the science which teaches us to live happily, is a natural product of reason and experience and a necessary element in all human society. It is continually progressive nnd its develop" ment is an important part of culture. We can trace its growth in history. We can see tribes in which it was creditable to rob or assassinate any one belonging to another village; in which homicide was the only road to honorable distinction; in which cannibalism, human sacrifices at divine worship, hereditary slavery, unprovoked warfare for slaves and cattle, the ownership of nearly all the land by a hereditary nobility, despotic chieftainship, ecclesiastical « • «'« TIES •»ti *,« t « • • * * ; » ^' ; . t » > ■•■•.••::;:■••:•..'..•••■•■- , , » I , » I • * • t ' . •* » C / ' > /. : iVDiVlDlJAL DUTIE .fjer^e^utipp; .^nd 'tfefasQrship of the press, 'Were •estubll^hied institutions and were not only considered politic and just, but were blessed by the priests, as of divine origin, to last forever. The overthrow of each of these evils was an important step in moral pro- gress. Opinion has no direct ethical character, but it often has great influence on moral conduct. As aids to the general welfare of our race, it is important that all men should accept the ideas that the mental constitution of humanity is predominantly good ; that it naturally sympathizes with suffering; that it admires justice and truth; that the toil indispensable to supply cur physical wants necessarily develops our intellectual capac- ity; that this development brings with it, an increase of general morality and enjoyment; and that a law of orderly and beneficent progress pervades and governs the life of our race. That human nature is predominantly good is proved by individual consciousness and general history. We detest the man who murders his mother, robs his best friend, or betrays his country; we love generosity, MORALS magnanimity, philanthropy and patriotic devotion. Because man inclines to goodness, many of the greatest evils of the past have been overthrown, and many of the greatest evils of the present will be overthrown in the not remote future. The intellectual part of our nature is rapidly increasing in relative importance. The baser passions are losing and the nobler sentiments are gaining in their influence on human life. § 2. A Moral System.— ]Ji^^ a consist- ent life. Choose a system, suitable for the guidance of all men, and be true to it. Of moral systems, four of a distinctly marked character are before you for selection. These are severe asceticism, crime, mean selfishness, and justice. The first, very rare in modern civilized nations, commands abstinence from all amusements, and even from jovial conver- sation; from luxury, and even from comfort and cleanliness in food, clothing and dwell- ing, and from all sexual pleasures. Severe asceticism is a prominent feature of Brah- minism and of Boodhism, and was at one time common among Christian devotees. The second system, crime, is a violation INDIVIDUAL DrriES of the State law and a general violation of the rights of others, and requires no further explanation here. The third, mean selfishness, teaches a supreme devotion to the gratification of personal greed, regardless of the rights or feelings of others, but without violating the civil or criminal law. The meanly selfish man is detestable in his social and industrial relations generally, tyrannical to his wife, to his children, and to his servants, unkind to his neighbors, and unfair in his business. He lives without esteem and dies unregretted. The fourth system, justice or virtue, teaches you to treat others as you wish others to treat you, and it trains you to be a good friend, a good neighbor, a good citizen, and a good man. It has been the rule of life of the best men of all enlightened countries, and of such distinguished ethical authorities as Confucius, Socrates, Aristotle, Epicurus, Zeno, Lucian, Cicero, Epictetus, Seneca, Aurelius, Paley, Bossuet, Bentham, Emerson, Mill and Spencer. Study this system and live in accordance with its pre- cepts, some of which will be explained in the succeeding sections of this essay. . MORALS 9 Several mongrel codes, composed of com- binations of portions of several of the four main systems mentioned above, will be passed by here with this simple mention of their existence. § 3. Golden Kale. — The Golden Rule, that you must treat others as you wish them to treat you, includes, but does not clearly teach, all the principles of justice. The interpretation of the Golden Rule varies in different conditions of culture. Men of much learning and talent and of a keen sense of dutv have considered it consistent with slavery, hereditary nobility, ecclesiastical persecution, censorship of the press, despotic monarchy, and numerous other institutions, which are now looked upon by leading thinkers as grossly wrong. It is univer- sally admitted or implied that the Golden Rule, though the best epitome of the highest morality in a single sentence, is not suffi- cient for the moral guidance of humanity. § 4. Standard of Truth. — You cannot o:et outside of yourself. You cannot see with the eyes, nor taste with the palate, nor hear with the ears, nor think with the reason of another; you cannot directly read the f la INDIVIDUAL DUTIKS thoughts of others; you misunderstand the characters of friends with whom you have associated intimately for years. You are confident that you know the rule of conduct they would pursue in a certain contingency, and when that contingency occurs, they pursue the opposite rule. Every person has his own standard of truth, and that is the harmony between his mind and the proposition under considera- tion. No other standard is accepted practi- cally by any bod}'. If you say that you accept such a book or such a person as an infallible guide for your faith or your conduct, you mean that the proposition, of the infallibility of the book or of the person, harmonizes with your mind; and any idea inconsistent with that infallibility does not harmonize wMth your mind. S 5. Moral Independence , — You may have little confidence in your own reason, and you ma}^ renounce its authority to a considerable extent, but, you cannot renounce the au- thority of your moral nature. The main motive of all your actions must be to please yourself. ** Nature has placed mankind under the government of two sovereign mas- MOKALS 11 ters pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as well as to determine what we shall do." {^B.y^ Conceptions of pleasure, especially when in- fluenced by expectations of reward or punish- ment by divine agency in the present or in a future life, vary greatly; but you cannot do anything against what seems, at the moment of your action, to be your highest pleasure. Whether you risk your life in battle or in attending on the sick in a pestilence, whether you die as a martyr in an inquisitorial fire or as a weak fool in a drunken debauch, pleasure governs you. Some pleasures are base, some innocent, some noble. One man finds his highest enjoyment in noble virtue, another in base vice, and the divergence in the courses of their lives may be chargeable mainly to their education and their surroundings. Do not assert that you live for others, or that you love your neighbor as yourself. You do not and cannot. If you have a high character, you may sacrifice your money or your life for them, but in such case the *B, stands for Beutham; and on other pages, A. for Marcus Aurelius; C for Cicero; E. for Knierson; F. for Franklin: L. for Lubbock; and S. for Seneca. If !| 12 INDIVIDUAL DUTIES sacrifice is made primarily to your affection, and only secondarily to the object of your affection. The greatest and most generous sacrifices of self are also sacrifices to self, to a noble self-hood. Do not allow others to dictate rules of conduct to you. Examine all the leading moral codes, including those of the Boodhists the Stoics, the Christians, the Confucianists, the Epicureans, and the Utilitarians (most of these differ more in name than in spirit), and make a choice for yourself. Be your own man morally. § 6. Misreprcsenlation, — Be prepared to be maligned when you declare that your own enjoyment is the highest purpose and duty of your life. While blind to the weakness of their own positions bigotry and superstition will grossly mistake and abuse yours; and even kind and learned genius will sometimes be unfair to you as Epictetus was to Epicurus, though the conduct of the two was governed by very similar motives. Their chief differences were not ethical but theological; not about the degree of service due to our fellow-men , but about the existence of evil, and of divine influence in human life. MORALS 13 One of the most common methods of misrep- resenting ethical theories is to use their terms in false meanings and thus convey incorrect ideas of their tendencies. A large part of con- troversy is the result of differences in defini- tion. Cicero says that when Themistocles told an Athenian meeting that he had a project that would be beneficial to the State, but that he did not wish to make it public, the matter was referred to Aristides, who, after hearing that the scheme was to burn the fleet of Spar- ta (the ally of Athens, but also her chief rival in Greece,) returned to the meeting with the report that the plan was not honorable and should be rejected. His advice was adopted. In this case, the word beneficial was used improperly. The injury to the conscience and self-respect of the Athenian people by such treachery would have far outweighed all its benefits; so the project was impolitic as well as dishonor- able. ^ 7. EviL — Do not imitate the mistake of the Stoics in denying the existence of evil. Do not try to repudiate or rise above your human nature, by declaring with Aurelius that *'life and death, honor and infamy, W 4 h bi 14 INDIVIDUAL DUTIES wealth and po vert}', * <^ * are neither good nor bad," nor that they are "insignificant, despicable, and paltry." Do not try to make yourself indifferent to disgusting odors and flavors, to the extremes of thirst, hunger, heat, and cold, or to the contempt and emnity of your fellow-men. Regard all these things as evils, and admit that it is your duty and your desire to protect yourself as well as others from them. § 8. Death, — Act as if you were to live for many years, and prefer the lasting to the fleeting pleasures. Service to your neighbor ennobles your character and is a source of enduring enjoyment to you. You will delight in its anticipation and in its recollection. If you have a low nature, you may derive a satisfaction from base conduct but it will be brief, for you will obtain no happiness from looking forward to it or backward upon it. No other treasure is more precious to man than his self-respect based on the consciousness of noble purpose and on the recollection of noble conduct; no other is so secure in its possession, for it cannot be taken away by the fickleness of fortune as may wealth, office, and a circle MOHAI>S 15 of fashionable friends. Let your actions be Sweet to-day vSo that there shall be no bitter- ness in your cup to-morrow. Do not imagine that you can get more than your fair share of enjoyment by cheating others out of theirs. Knavery is the child of folly. It sacrifices the years of the future to the minutes of the present. While living as if your life were to be long and as if vou were often in a remote future to consider your conduct of to-day, be always ready to meet death with a steadfast mind, with a composed demeanor, with the feeling that you have lived as a man ought to live, and that you can die as a man ought to die. Do not let the fear of your last hour fill your whole life with a cowardly disquiet. (5.) Make yourself familiar with the thought of death; let such dread as it suggests to you be associated not with death, but with the fear of it. {ib,^ If you are armed against death, other evils will have the less power over you. (/^.) § 9. Self' Re sped, — Act so as to be worthy of the respect of yourself and of others. Compare yourself with others, and find inward satisfaction in a comparison ii 1(1 INDIVIDl'AL DUTIES favorable to yourself. Be careful to attach value only to such points as confer moral and intellectual dignity on humanity; to high character, capacity and education, and to the qualities associated v^ith, and to the achievements accomplished by, those merits. Honor every man who respects himself no matter how poor he may be in money, how different from you in color, or how unpopu- lar in his race or nationality. Pay a tribute of recognition to every form of moral excel- lence. Take no pride in possessing wealth, hereditary rank, fine clothes or fashionable friends; and pay no court to others merely because they have these baubles. Desire the approval of your friends and the com- munity, and congratulate yourself when you succeed in obtaining it, but ' 'do not make your happiness dependent on the fancies of other men" (A,) and ''attach more value to your own opinion of yourself than to that of any other person.'' (td.) Remember that *'the basis of good manners is self-reliance" (£,) which comes partly from familiarity with good society and partly from the con- sciousness of your own merit. Take care that no one shall have good reason to des- MORALS 17 pise you, and if then any one treat you contemptuously, you can regard his conduct with indifference. {A,) Adopt high conceptions of the duty and dignity of humanity, and let your chief fear be that you may sometimes fail to act up to your ideal, (id,) "Let nobody surpass you in virtue and behavior." (i6,) Let your supreme satisfaction in life come from your success in striving to be a good man. (id,) Do not try by fasting, flagellation or self- mutilation to bring yourself into such a physical condition that you shall become indifferent to life, unmindful of your friends, or incapable of feeling temptation. Remem- ber that without temptation there would be no virtue. § lo. Develop Yourself. — Educate your- self Seek to develop all your physical and mental faculties, so that you can make the most of yourself and of your opportuni- ties. Study your mind and your body to ascertain whether you have any peculiarities or remarkable faculties; whether you have any superior capacity that fits you for rare success in oratory, music, painting, poetry, 18 INDIVIDUAL DUTIKS prose coinposition,manual labor, the manage- ment of men, or the organization of business. Spend as much time as you can in study. Read or try to read the great works of popular literature. Make friends of books, so that you need never wait long nor go far to find agreeable and instructive companions, and that you shall never feel tempted to seek the society of the coarse or the vicious for mere entertainment. §11. Resist Evil, — Resist inj ustice when- ever you can effectually. Do not make a sheepofyourselffor the benefit of the wolves. Do not encourage and reward violence and crime by cowardly or meek submission. Be ever ready to defend yourself. Resent injustice to yourself or to others, but do not habitually cherish angry passions. Do not keep the demand for vengeance always before your mind. Pity the man who is ever talking about getting even with the world. Your own spite may cause you more unhappiness than would the wrong, that originally provoked it, to a wise man. {A,) Try to accept prosperity with modera- tion and adversity with fortitude. Gentle- ness and good humor are great aids in con- M ORALS 19 quering evils common in life (z^.), and are powerful protectors against misery, even when they fail to prevent the outward mis" fortune. The pain to which we submit with composure and cheerfulness loses half its terrors. § 12. Surroundings, — Strive to bring yourself into harmony with your surround- ings. Adapt yourself to your circum- stances as nearly as possible, so that the general tone of your mind shall be placid, without being indifferent. If the institu- tions of your native country do not suit you, emigrate, and if you must stay, accept the situation without chafing, and, without use- less and irritating opposition to evils that are too strong for you to disturb, but with a readiness to start or aid any reformatory movement that has a fair chance of success. f 20 SOCIAL DUTIES CHAPTER TI. Social Duties. § 13. Jtisiice, — ^Justice is sometimes un- derstood to exclude kindness and generosity, but in its higher and nobler sense it includes them, and all our duties to our neighbors. In this sense, entitled by the Stoics, (C. ) ' ' the mistress and queen of all the virtues, " it re- quires us to be extremely considerate for others; to be cautious about attributing to them base motives for actions with which we are not thoroughly familiar; to make allow- ances in favor of others for an education less favorable than our own to the development of moral character, and for exposure to temptations greater than those to which we have been subjected. In case of doubtful obligation, construe it against yourself. Life is a chain of reciprocal duties, many of which arise at a moment's notice, and cannot be foreseen or described before the MORALS 21 occurrence of contingencies demanding im- mediate action, and which cannot then be fully understood without strict attention and conscientious thought. Our obligations are greater to the weak and poor than to the rich and strong, to the near than to the remote. When our action is to affect another, we should consider how, if he were in our place and we in his, noble justice would require him to treat us, and we should then comply with that requirement. Be merciful, generous, and just, but do not let your indulgence become an encourage- ment for mean selfishness or crime. Do more for the welfare of the community than for that of an individual. Do not kill or strike or speak with malice; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not give your money or your pretended allegiance to creeds that you believe to be f-ilse; do not violate the equal, industrial, political, or social rights of your neighbors. Take an interest in everything that con- cerns mankind. ''Humanity requires us to feel a kindly interest in the welfare of all men." (^.) He that cares for nobody but himself becomes a voluntary outlaw, {ib,) 22 SOCIAL DUTIES hi Be helpful to all men and when you see a person in need of your service, do not wait for him to solicit it, but step forward to assist him. As a duty of kindness, be polite to all. Impoliteness is a proof of something wrong in the feeling, the judgment, or the education of the offender. Show your sympathy with suffering and your gratifica- tion in its relief. While taking the most interest in enlightened persons whom you know and esteem, do not be indifferent to the fate of the rudest and most remote. Give no support to any cruel or coarse amuse- ment. Inflict no torture on man or brute. But avoid foolish sentimentality. Kill the insect that sucks your blood and the animal that you need for food. Fear not to vivisect the beast whose sacrifice is nec- essary for the instruction of your surgeons, anatomists and physiologists. **Be kind even to your enem3^ Show him his error without seeking credit for your patience with him.'' (^.) *' Forbearance is a kind of justice." (/^.) After doing a be- nevolent action, do not be embittered because the beneficiary shows no gratitude or the public does not praise you. {ib.) Do not MORALS 23 boast of your good deeds, nor remind your beneficiaries of their obligations to you, for by so doing you prove that your main motive was not regard for your duty but desire for their praise. *^We should give as we would receive." {S,) § 14. Reward, — Do not fear that after a life devoted to justice, you will regret your choice of a moral principle. If any person pretends to feel such regret, you may doubt whether he was faithful to the system. The concurrent evidence of many high authorities proves that any other course will be unsatisfactory. According to Spencer, mean selfishness ' 'defeats itself by bringing on an incapacity for happiness." Aurelius has observed that '' honesty is always the nearest road to success, ' ' and that ' ' man has a lasting mine of happiness in his own con- science if he will but dig for it." Cicero's definition of morality, as '* the art of living wisely," implies that folly is the insepar- able companion of vice. Mencius assures us that ''all men feel the sentiments of mercy and pity" and Confucius, that " if you are generous, you will win all." Goodness is everywhere appreciated and everywhere i 24 SOCIAL DUTIES rewarded. Trust to the general rule that every just act strengthens the cause o justice, and that kindness stimulates kindly- feeling. The greatest mistake that you can make in life is to act on the theory that you can get more enjoyment by meanness than by generosity, more by fraud than by fair deal- ing, or more by violence than by gentleness. Society is quick to perceive and to punish trespasses on its equal rights. Many penalties that do not appear on the records of the criminal courts are severe. For a long time you may pursue a career of theft with- out arrest, but there are nineteen chances out of twenty that you w\\\ be caught; and that, long before the law catches you, your acquaintances will understand and avoid you; and that besides becoming an outcast, you will be plundered mercilessly by black- mailers who discover your crimes. Besides, whether detected by others or not, you will never have that sense of security and that inward peace which are among man's most precious possessions. There is little satis- faction in stolen money. The same principle applies to petty social offenses which are MORALS 20 beneath the notice of the criminal law. The foolishly selfish ' ' pursue a course of action which neither makes themselves nor anyone else happy." (L.) As Bossuet says ' ' all the doctrines of morals tends solely to our enjoyment." ** Friendship buys friendship." (E.) It is worth more than it costs, and everybody can afford to pay for it. It is so cheap and so important that he who fails to get it proves his own gross folly. With kindred coin, and at prices as moderate, you can purchase those other great treasures equally precious, your own self respect, the love of your family, and the esteem of those who know your general reputation. Without letting lovable motives govern all your actions, there is no mastery in the art of being loved. By giving justice and kindly attention to everybody with whom you come in contact, you can acquire all these, which, unlike most other treasures, cannot be taken from you by war, fire, flood, shipwreck, bad harvest, thief, or tyrant, nor can they be in- jured by rust or moth or mould. Does any man, even the worst, desire to have the repute of being a bad brother, a 26 SOCIAL DUTIES MORALS 27 bad friend, a bad neighbor, or a bad citizen ? And if not, why should he not make the moderate eflfort required to be good in all those relations ? All that is necessary is good sense, with character enough to be influenced in the actions of to-day by proper consideration for to-morrow. There is no danger, no hardship, no privation, no strain, no impossibility in being good — that is, relatively and creditably, as life goes. * ' The greatest blessing of nature is that which every honest man can bestow upon himself, ' ' So says Seneca, and elsewhere he assures us that ''There is not in the scale of nature a more inseparable connection between cause and effect than in the case of virtue and happiness; nor anything that more naturally produces the one or more necessarily pre- supposes the other. ' ' Do not try to find an excuse for theft in the idea that others have more than a fair share of good things and that you may prop- erly help yourself to their superfluity. This is the pretext of the bad man; it is a prepar- ation for a career of endless crime. If you should devote your whole life to robbery for the purpose of equalizing the distribution of »^ property, your influence would be to cause greater inequality. § 1 5. Alms,— While kind, do not be weak in your treatment of others. Do not squan- der your charity. Do not encourage crime, idleness, folly, extravagance or mendicancy. Require proofs that the recipients of your philanthropy are worthy of it. Give no indiscriminate alms. When you have money for charity, give it to those known to you per- sonally as worthy of your aid, or entrust it to agents who will acquire a similar knowledge. § 16. Cheerfulness, — He who wants to make life pleasant to others should not only be polite, but habitually cheerful. If suffer- ing physical or mental torture, he should conceal it if possible, and in no case make it the subject of long lamentation or of unso- licited explanation. Pain decreases by concealment while contributing to the pleas- ure of others, and the diminution is propor- tioned to the difficulty and success of the last. Continual grumbling about the world in general, like that about one's own mis- fortunes, is a serious social offense, and sug- gests an unsound moral condition, as well as bad taste and bad judgment. 28 I if SOCIAL DUTIES Study the art of talking, so that you may be able to entertain your friends with a flow of pleasant and instructive conversation. § 17. Vanity, — Suppress your vanity. Do not disregard the social rights of others. Do not boast about your wealth, your office, your elegant dress, or your stylish friends. Do not be ostentatious in your ornaments* furniture or dwelling. Do not avoid intellec- tual and worthy people merely because they are not fashionable. Do not talk loudly to distract the attention of others who are try- ing to entertain themselves out of your cir- cle. Do not insist on speaking of 5'our hobbies or adventures. Remember Emer- son's excommunication of the pedant who afflicts his acquaintances with his person- alities and who cannot ''conceal his wrath at interruption by the best, if their conversation do not fit his impertinency." One of the forms of vanity is the habit of making whin- ing appeals for sympathy. *'The sufferers parade their miseries, tear the lint from their bruises, reveal their indictable crimes. They like sickness because physical pain will extort some show of interest from the bystand- ers." {£,) MORALS 29 § 1 8. Apology, — If, under the influence of ignorance or passion, you have insulted any person, make an explicit apology, first as a duty to yourself, and next as a duty to him. Proportion the satisfaction to the offense. If the latter was public, let the former be public likewise. Refusal to make amends in such cases, even if no wrong was intended at the time, and if the only offense was im- politeness, has a debasing influence; and on the other hand, the acknowledgement for the error is an ennobling triumph over mean vanity. § 19. Equality— Help the tendency toward social equality. Reserve your social homage for the superior moral and intel- lectual qualities. Use your influence against the maintenance of hereditary social classes, and against those distinctions which serve to separate the rich from the poor, and to perpetuate the separation. Try to raise all the people around you to a high plane on which you have previously placed yourself. Do not forget that the best place for enjoy- ment is the company of your equals. § 20. Disputation. — Avoid acrimonious disputation. It has an irritating and blind- ao SOCIAL DUTIES ing effect on yourself and 3'our hearers Give information and suggestion to inquirers, but do not thrust them on the unwilling. High truth cannot be introduced into igno- rant and prejudiced minds by mere announce- ment. The recipients must be prepared for it by a progressive intellectual development. The overthrow of folly and superstition is slow work; in many cases, scientific discov- eries as well as enlightened moral principles failed to find general acceptance in a com- munity until a new generation accustomed to them from childhood, and thus liberated from the control of the older error and superstition, had grown up. Do not imagine that you can completely reform the world in a few years by mere energy in scolding. § 21. Woman, — On account of her more delicate physical and intellectual constitu- tion, of her inferior capacity for breadwin- ing, and of her peculiar responsibility in maintaining the social system, woman has a right to demand the constant care and protection of man. He should make allow- ances for differences between his nature and hers, partly perhaps the result of different educations and habits. He should seek to MORALS 31 ^ adapt himself to her tastes and demands, or at least to study them with much care and consideration, so that they shall not be passed by in mere ignorance and contempt. Treat motherhood as sacred, and never let it become compulsory. Aid women to become independent pecuniarily and socially, so that they never be forced, as the only refuge from starvation or miserable solitude, to submit to men whom they detest. Do not make the wife the slave of the husband in such a manner that his ownership shall be treated by the law or public opinion as the most sacred of all legal titles, and its viola- lation as the greatest of all wrongs. Do not permit the husband to murder the adulterous wife or her paramour. Whatever punish- ment they deserve should be inflicted by judicial decree. Never adopt in practice a rule which you would be ashamed to express in your law. 32 INDUSTRIAL DUTIES CHAPTER III. Industriai. Duties. § 22. Mo?iey. — Life being organized on a pecuniary basis, you should work for a living. Work also for enjoyment. Those who, by disease, social prejudice or imprison- ment are prevented from working have an unenviable fate, and those are unfortunate who cannot work at the occupations best suited for their tastes. Such an occupation is an important aid to the enjoyment of life. Those are greatest who can do the most work; and those are most unhappy who do the least. Discontent is the companion of idleness. Be a worker in some useful occupation; and whatever you do whether for yourself or for others, do it with all your might. Accustom yourself to doing your best. Try to acquire the highest skill in your business. No matter how simple, how unintellectual or how dirty, try to give dignity to it by MOKALS 33 #4 faithful attention and strenuous effort. Work, necessary to human comfort is no cause of shame to you so long as you do it well, and can get n(» other occupation more suitable to your tastes and your wants. Do not regard work for daily wages as enslaving. We must all work for compensation; and no more discredit vshould attach to the toil of the ploughman, the blacksmith or the cook than to that of the lawyer, the physician or the judge. S 23. Specialty. -^VL?ive some specialty and learn it well. Concentrate your powers on a small field of usefulness. Do not dis- sipate your energies in frequent changes of business. (£".) Pay strict attention to every detail of your business. Let everything from your hand be of superior quality, durable, highly serviceable and elegantly finished. Do not fear that your employers and customers will not appreciate good work, or do not think they will not pay for it. Experience proves that the toil and care spent in gaining a reputation, are the best investments that can be made in business. Many great fortunes have been acquired by them. People generally know when they 34 INDUSTRIAL DUTIES get their money's worth, and they not only give their custom to the trustworthy work- man, but they give him their respect as well. And even if they did not, he has his own self-respect which is worth more to him than their money and their praise. § 24. Wealth, — Accumulate property. Your success will give you confidence in your talent for business, will assist you in finding the occupation best suited to your tastes and capacities, will educate you in some branches, will give opportunities foj- getting instruction in others, will protect you against the discomfort and demoraliza- tion associated with some forms of poverty, and will give you access to many sources of enjoyment. Respect money and aspire to be rich. " Man was born to be rich * * * Property is an intellectual production.'' {E^ Its accumulation is one of the chief results and best measures of progress. § 25. Debt, — Keep your accounts care- fully. Live within your income. Pay as you go. Incur few debts, and wipe them out as soon as possible. Do not let a creditor wait a day after his money falls due. Do your part to give a character of punctuality and MORALS 35 integrity to the business of your community. ''The best use for money is to pay debts." (iS*.) Debt is a burden to the honest, a demoralizing influence to the weak, and a danger to the dishonest. "He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing." Alas, think well what you do when you run in debt. You give to another power over your liberty. If you cannot pay at the time, you will be ashamed to see your creditor; you will be in fear when you speak to him; you will make poor, pitiable, sneaking excuses, and by degrees come to lose your veracity, and sink into base, downright lying. For lying rides on debt's back. A freeborn man ought not to be afraid to see or to speak to any man living, but poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue. It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright." {F,) § 26. Poverty. — While seeking to secure wealth, do not worry about your poverty. Remember that many men are relatively happy without, and many unhappy with, wealth. Consider how many very impor- tant sources of enjoyment cannot be got with money. Among these are a noble character, a cheerful disposition, health, satisfaction V 36 INDrSTRIAL DITIKS with one's occupation, habitual industry the affection of a large circle of friends, fond- ness for books, social tact, and an aversion to strong drinks and strong narcotics. Poverty with all these is preferable to a million without them. The happiest men are not the richest. § 27. Wat t— Do not be in great haste for results. The best fruits do not grow on annual shrubs. Look to the remote as well as to the near future for the rewards of your labor and the harvest of your life in pleasure as well as in business. Plans requiring many years for their full development imply confidence in self and comprehensiveness of thought, and give dignity to character, Learn to wait patiently as well as to work thoroughly. In selecting an occupation, take one with little risk, even though the profit should be moderate, in preference to another with great risk, though the ordinary profits be large. Avoid gambling and speculative enterprises, Advance surely, no matter how slowly. § 28. Industrial Freedom, — Preserve your own industrial liberty and respect that of others. Do not obstruct the free play ot MORALS 37 supply and demand. Do not hamper the career of business talent. Resist every as- sociation that dictates the prices of labor or merchandise; that demands as much em- ployment and pay for the incompetent and careless as for the competent and careful workman; that prohibits work by the job; that forbids the strong and active workman to do more than the weak and idle; that commands laborers to beg rather than to accept living wages under the rates adopted by strikers; that depends on crime for the enforcement of its orders; and that organizes a minority of toilers receiving high wages in conspiracy against a majorit}^ anxious to work for lower wages. § 29. Explicit Contract. — Take care to make explicit contracts. Let your agree- ments in reference to considerable enterprises be in writing, so that the precise terms can be fairly considered and that there may be an authoritative phraseology by which the rights of both parties can be determined. If you have accepted an ambiguous phrase, bear the loss of half the sum made doubtful by the ambiguity. If you are the author of the equivocal language, accept the inter- 38 INDUSTRIAL DUTIES pretation of the other man. Where there is reasonable doubt about the limits of your duty, do so much that all will admit that you have done all that could justly be expected of you. MORALS 39 CHAPTER IV. PouTicAi. Duties. § 30. Internatio7ial, — ' ' There are, ' ' says Seneca, '^ two republics; a great one, which includes all mankind, and a less one, the nation in which we are citizens. ^ * * It was the intent of nature that we should make ourselves useful to both." Our obli- gations to the world and to our country harmonize with one another. Difficult prob- lems of conflicting duties are too rare and too unimportant in the ordinary life to require consideration here. He who serves himself well will usually be a good neighbor; the good neighbor is a good citizen; the good citizen makes his life beneficial to the whole human race. To other nations we owe the obligations of using our influence against aggressive warfare, and in favor of international friend- liness, of international arbitrating tribunals 40 POLITICAL DUTIES of kind treatment to foreigners in our coun- try, and of a liberal system of commercial intercourse that will give reciprocal aid to develope the natural resources of different portions of the globe. § 31. Gf€atest\}ood.—'X:\\^ chief end of national economy, the greatest good of the greatest number, demands freedom of speech, of public meeting, of press, of worship, and of industrial contract; equality of political and civil rights with the promptest and most efficient protection of them; the offer of a high education to all; cheapness of adminis- tration; and the appointment of the most competent and most trustworthy to office without regard to partisan service or family influence. For the purpose of preventing the perpetuation of wealth and poverty in hereditary classes of society it is important that taxes should be levied on accumulated wealth rather than on labor; that the system of land conveyance should be simple and cheap; and that the law should prohibit primogeniture, long leases, long entails, and the immediate or oft repeated renewal of short entails. MORALS 41 Do not subordinate the interest of the community to the greed or whim or foolish affectionof any individual. Do not permit the multiplication of lunatics, idiots, lepers or others afflicted with grave physical and mental ailments which pass by inheritance to children and make life a burden to them and to others. Do not allow infants born blind, deaf, idiotic, monstrous or seriously deformed to live. Never let indulgence to the drone or the evil-doer outweigh justice to the community. Exterminate promptly the professional criminal, the anarchist crim- inal, the insane criminal, the professional gambler, the sturdy beggar, and the habit- ual drunkard. § 32. Communism. — Resist communism, not because of its purpose, but because of its method. Its purpose is the welfare of the multitude. Its method is a long and sudden jump beyond all governmental expe- rience. Its advocates lack either judgment or honesty. Numerous communistic exper- iments, of which the most notable have been those of Paris in 1792, 1848 and 1870, have been tried and all have ended in dis- graceful and disastrous failure. Political 42 POLITICAL DUTIES change to be safe must be slow. Every advance should be by a small step, and wrhen that has gained a good foothold, another may be taken in the same direction, and so on. Experience must serve as the constant guide. Thus was established the fabric of the British constitutional freedom, the greatest contribution to polity ever made by one nation. The communist is a dan- gerous citizen; not so the ultimate commu- nist who desires to reach the same ends by long series of small political reforms each of which shall prove its soundness before its successor shall appear on the scene. § 33- Anarchy, — Give no encourage- ment to the anarchists. It is a great mistake to suppose that the condition of the poor would be improved by the overthrow of the government. The worst of all political conditions, for poor as well as rich, for strong as well as weak, is that in which there is no law and no efficient administra- tion of law. The evils of anarchy, and even of any approximation to it, are so great that every community which has tried it has been anxious to escape from it, even when the first refuge from it was despotism. MORALS 43 Anarchy is the natural foundation of tyranny. § 34. Liberty, — Do not imagine that freedom and anarchy are friends. They are irreconcilable enemies. So soon as one obtains power it destroys the other. Political liberty is not a condition in which everybody can murder, rob and enslave his neighbor without governmental interference, but one in which every citizen securely enjoys equal political and civil rights. Like other human institutions, it nowhere exists in perfection, but its highest develop- ments are found under the authority of complex written law and elaborate judicial and executive systems of administration. ^ 35. Tyran7iical CapitaL — Do not be- lieve those communists and anarchists who assert that the poor are growing poorer and that a combination of rich men, high officials and scholars, for the oppression of the labor- ing class, has control of all civilized nations. Such assertions are the expressions of igno- rance and demagogism, and are notoriously the sources of much profit to politicians and journalists, who parade them before the pub- lic in various forms. The ruling classes 44 POLITICAL DUTIES everywhere are anxious to improve the con- dition of the multitude, but the task of im- provement by political measures is one of great difficulty and of slow progress. The nations under the control of manhood suf- frage, including the United States, Switzer- land and France; have not, in the last fifty years, made one great original improvement in the guaranties of equal political rights: nor in those nations, are the multitude now agreed in demanding any reform for their own benefit, though the communistic agi- tators declare that their governments are controlled by the capitalists for the oppres- sion of the poor. The condition of the many will improve with their education and can- not run far in advance of it. The most dangerous enemies of the poor are those demagogues who would like to bring on a destructive revolution, and who pretend that the hardships of poverty are mainly charge- able to the officials in power. § 36. Education. — Make education the chief function of your political system. Teach the young not merely the branches of a common school course, but also of the useful arts and learned professions, so "that MORALS 45 a large proportion of the men and women shall be familiar with those occupations which now command large incomes, and so that an approach shall be made towards the equalization of pay for mental and physical labor. 46 RELIGIOUS DUTIES CHAPTER V Religious Duties § 37. Respect your body.—T)o not despise your body. Do not degrade yourself by fasting, vigils, self-flagellation or abstinence from any enjoyment that does not injure yourself or others. Do not sacrifice the certainties or neglect the opportunities of the world. Treat this life not as a mere proba- tion or introduction to another, but as a sphere worthy of all your zeal and interest, as sufficient in itself to reward your highest ambition. § 38. Meliorism. — Do not waste vour time in quarreling with the moral system of the world, in cursing your luck, or in de- claring that life is not worth living; that evil greatly predominates over good; and that the poverty and moral degradation of the poor are continually increasing. The gen- eral and almost universal decision of the wise and the foolish, the learned and the MORALS 47 ignorant in every age and country has been that life is precious, that death is the greatCvSt of evils, that pleasure outweighs pain, and that good predominates over evil. Among those who deserve to be con- sidered the highest authorities, the opinion prevails that the moral, intellectual and industrial condition of the many is rapidly improving in enlightened nations. § 39. Use of EviL — Do not overlook the fact that evil, lamentable as its influences are in many ways, is indispensable to human nature. Man could not be what he is with- out evil; that is, ungratified want. If he had no wants requiring effort for their grati- fication, his life would be without stimulus, without interest, without ambition, without intellectual or moral growth for the race or the individual. He would be lower than the brute, as low as the vegetable, in the scale of existence. He might as well not be. Whether he could have been constituted differently, so that without the stimulus of evil he could have enjoyed an intellectual development as rapid as at present, is a question that deserves no consideration here. I 48 KELIGIOrS DLTIES § 40. Depravity, Do not readily accept the supposition that all the high morality and all the people who deserve to escape eternal perdition are in yo\xx church. If you will examine the best authorities you will find that many of the noblest ethical maxims were common among the Chinese, the Egyp- tians, the Hindoos, the Persians and the Greeks as early as among the Jews or the Christians. You will find that the rules of returning good for evil and of protecting and comforting the poor and weak were known long before the time of Moses. Noble virtue has been found connected with forms of religion so divergent that it evi- dently does not grow^ out of or depend on any theological dogma. It flourished among the Confucians, who have neither a god nor a future life. It flourished among the polytheistic Greeks and Romans, who had no definite idea of rewards and punishments in a future life. We do not know the origi- nal authorship of any valuable moral prin- ciple. § 41 . Defective Institutio7is, — Much of our immorality is the result of defective social, political, industrial and ecclesiastical institu- MORALS 49 tions as, in the past, it was of despotic mon- archy, hereditary nobility, serfdom, slavery, ecclesiastical persecution, aggressive warfare, the mediaeval guild system, and popular ig- norance. By their injustice, all these evils provoked injustice and bred immorality. In the most enlightened nations of our time serious evils exist and they breed other evils. Time teaches man to know himself; and that increasing knowledge implies a successive adaptation of social and political institutions, of moral ideas and of industrial processes better suited than those of previous ages to his wants and capacities. § 42. No Sacred bistitictions. — You may be told that this or that institution is of im- mediate divine origin and must not be mod- ified nor destroyed by hostile legislation. If you will read the history of Egypt, Hindo- stan, Babylonia, Assyria, Persia, Arabia, India, Greece, Rome, Carthage, Gaul and Utah, you will find that such claims have so often been made falsely that you will be somewhat suspicious. Demand conclusive proof of the divine origin. Remember the legal maxims that the more important the averment and the less consistent with ordi- 50 RELIGIOUS DUTIES nary experience, the stronger should be the proof; and that the evidence must be the best obtainable under the circumstances. It might be difficult to say what would be the best evidences that divine power could fur- nish lo sustain its own work, but they would presumably include indisputable proof that the institution in question, unlike those of human origin, was perfect from the first, and had never suffered the least change by decay, growth or reform; that the agents, to whose care it had been intrusted had been perfect in their wisdom, learning and justice; and that its influence had been beneficent in every direction. Until some institution can produce such evidence in its own support, you may without impiety legislate upon everything, and reform everything. § 43. Tncth.—Seek truth and study the methods in which it should be sought. Remember that it flourishes only in the light of free inquiry; that it demands the investigation of all obtainable evidence; that it detests credulous ignorance, hereditary beliefs, and threats of punishment for honest opinion; that it attaches no value to faiths accepted without deliberate consideration MORALS 51 of all that is said against them; and that it appeals as its ultimate authority to the reason of each man separately. § 44. Marty rdo77i,— Do not seek martyr- dom. You are under no obligation to pro- claim doctrines that, by the people around you, are regarded as criminal or highly per- nicious to the general welfare. If your neighbors accept false and debasing opinions, you can presumably do more good by teach- ings that will please and gradually elevate them, than by offending them so that they would at once burn, banish or avoid you. § 45. Co7icltision, — Our century gives us motives for justice stronger than those presented to men in earlier periods. For as life, health, freedom, and property are more secure, our physical comforts are greater and many of them are new to humanity; our in- tellectual enjoyments are more numerous, and, as a class, more acute and more pro- longed. In many respects we have gained much on the past, in few have we lost per- ceptibly. Compare our condition with that of the in- habitants of Southern Europe in the time of Cicero. Then, warfare was continuous; pes- 52 RELIGIOUS DUTIES MORALS 53 tilences and famines frequent. Most of the people were slaves; none save those of the capital had any influence in the general government. Manual labor was disgrace- ful, and, as it is the sphere of the multitude,. humanity was dishonored. Every near and powerful foreign nation was hated. Every freeman was a warrior, much of whose time was devoted to arms. The bulk of the sol- diers in a defeated army was slaughtered on the battle-field. The people of a conquered country were enslaved. The multitude were deep in ignorance and superstition. The art of reading was known to few. Materials for writing were dear and|inconvenient. Pen, paper, printing-press and newspaper, for general use, had not made their appearance. There was no chem- istry, physiology, astronomy, telescope, microscope, or thermometer. The concep- tion of natural law had not arisen. No gas or lamp with a chimney gave a bright light for evening entertainments. The chief shows in the great city were those in which, without protest from philosopher or priest, men slaughtered one another before immense crowds, including the highest officials. Carriages with springs, smoothly paved roads suitable for such vehicles, com- mon-carrier wagons making regular trips with passengers or freight, and saddles with stirrups are products of later times. Among other things produced, introduced or made common in Europe since the time of Cicero, are soaf), cotton clothing, knit clothing, friction match, toothbrUvSh, win- dow glass, spectacles, house chimney, steam and electricity with their appliances, cast iron, tinned iron, porcelain, forks, napkins, numerous vegetables and fruits, and the habit of frequently washing underclothes and bedding. In the popular religion there has been a great change for the better. The sacrifices of brutes, the consultation of omens, the oracular prediction of future events, and the performance of sacerdotal ceremonies have ceased or are no longer the exclusive func- tions of the sacerdotal profession. The priests have become agents of charity, counselors of the weak and afflicted, teach- ers of morality and general knowledge, and leaders in or prominent patrons of archi- tecture, artistic furnishing, painting, sculp- ture, elocution, oratory and authorship. •r" =! 54 RELIGIOUS DITTIES IV ,-■■ / Human nature is the .same now as it was two thousand years ago, but not so its modes of living and thinking. The comforts, the luxuries, the refinements, the tastes, the amusements, the social, political and relig- ious institutions, the arts and the ambitions of men have improved vastly. Intellectual occupations and influences have become more prominent. Industrialism has suc- ceeded militancy as the dominant feature of society. Benevolent institutions have be- come more numerous. One of the common hopes and chief pleasures is to do something that will benefit all our fellow-men, including those to whom we are not bound by any tie of blood, personal acquaintance or country. If it was evident to Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and their contemporaries that virtue was the only road to the highest pleasure in life, the proof, with the aid of the additional light of intervening centuries, should be a hundred-fold clearer to us. It will be still clearer to coming generations than it is to us. We can look back with satisfaction and forward with confidence. THK END 170 Hi'Hefl Code of moTals. H63 1 y-5- -«i' [ii-%4f ..^; i^ .<^^ii^iS^SP!^s^iijJ!^;?^^ iii*k^: